Chasing Treasure Review and Giveaway! 2/18

My friend Denschool is hosting a giveaway for her daughter's 10th birthday! This is awesome everyone! Come check it out and enter the Rafflecopter below!

YAY!  It’s a Giveaway! Happy 10^th Birthday to our Princess Jasmine!  In honor of her Birthday, Denschool has teamed up with Parent Palace to offer a Chasing Treasure Jewelry Box Giveaway! Please enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

Ok, so it isn’t exactly why we homeschool, but it is definitely a good perk.  To be able to throw a birthday party for your child and not have to worry about paying weekend prices and dealing with weekend crowds.   To think out of the box and take advantage of mid-week sales, discounts, and empty spaces!

For our two youngest children’s birthdays we were able to throw their party at a popular beach park this past June, on a Monday.  We didn’t have to “reserve” a pavilion and fight crowds of people.   This was wonderful!

This past week was our oldest daughter’s 10^th Birthday.  It was also on the same day that a nearby Zoo offered their $2 entry day!  What did we do… had her birthday party at the zoo of course!

How did I do it?

I sent an email to all of our friends requesting they join us for her birthday party field trip.  Because the zoo is not located in our town, some of our friends were unable to join. However, I figure less than half of the invited guests attend the party regardless of the location anyway.

The Party

The zoo allowed us to use their picnic area outside of the gates as our “party” location for lunch and cake (the use was for free!).  While everyone was touring the zoo in the morning, I stayed behind to setup the area and reserve our tables by placing a cloth and a few tabletop decorations out.  (Surprisingly, this worked!) We preordered pizza delivery for lunch and brought snacks, cake, and cupcakes as our sweets.

At the appropriate time, my husband escorted our guest back to the picnic area for the party and lunch.  For a little over an hour, the parents and children were all able to mingle with friends, eat lunch, and enjoy a break from the zoo. I think the party itself was a huge success.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and again, the break from walking around the zoo.

The Zoo

Was CRAZY!  I must admit that keeping up with everyone was insane! We had children fueled on sweets, boys wanting to go one way, girls requesting to go another.  We parents were simply along for the ride bracing ourselves for possible loss of a kid.  (smile)  As homeschoolers we forget what a full-on field trip can be like. We often find ourselves breaking away from our main group to create smaller ones.  I can’t imagine what this would have been like if everyone invited would have attended… (wow at the thought).  All in all, this too was a success as we didn’t lose any children!

Your Next Party

Take a look at your local calendar of events, your homeschooling group’s schedule, your local museums, parks, and other interesting places’ information.  Call and ask about weekday rates and forgo the “traditional” birthday party costs.  If you have loved ones who do work in the middle of the week that would like to attend… give them plenty of notice to take off from work or plan a special family only gathering.

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