I have a daughter whose 13th birthday is coming up in about 4 weeks and I am looking
for birthday party ideas. We've already done the skating and bowling parties. "13" is a special birthday but don't want to spend a fortune on the party. Don't want to do the huge party room and D.J. quite yet. There are no concerts or shows going on around Austin the weekend of October 4th.However, I don't want to have it in our house. Any ideas welcomed!!!
Thanks!!!
H.
Hi Moms! Thanks so much for all your great ideas. My husband has a free night with a hotel and we have coupons for a couple of places (buy one and get one).What I'm leaning toward doing is staying overnite in a hotel near downtown Austin on Saturday(the day before her actual b'day).I have booked a suite,which has a separate bedroom w/2 queen beds and my college daughter and I will sleep on the couch pull-out in the sitting room. I would like to have 13 roses,a few balloons, sparkling grape juice and the cookie-cake there when we arrive(i hope the office will hold this for me earlier that morning). She could invite 3 friends. We would start off with Austin's Park N Pizza on I-35 in the Round Rock area,which would include lunch. After a couple hours there we would head to the hotel for the 3:00 check-in. Maybe swim and do the jacuzzi (it is inside). ****I STILL have to figure out where to eat downtown for dinner(not too expensive and someplace these little "teens" like-so I still need suggestions for this).I wish there was a Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock but there is not that i know of. After dinner,I have buy-one get one coupons for the bat cruise(our family has never been to townlake aka "ladybird" lake or to the congress bridge). Finally,head back to the room where they can shut the bedroom door and be girls. Take cards,maybe guitar hero & playstation games. I'll have snacks and the cookie cake. At midnight,when she is "13", we'll break open the sparkling grapejuice. I could get some plastic wine glasses at the dollar store and paint "rachel is a teenager 10/5/95 or something like that". I'll also have new p.j. pants and i'll decorate a t-shirt that says "rachel is a teenager". (we all know being an official "teen" is a huge deal!) She has a really funny (huge) hat from New Orleans with candles on top she could also throw in her overnite bag.
So . . . did I leave anything out??? Anyone got anymore cute ideas, games, or great snacks that can be made in a microwave in the hotel room?
Thanks SO MUCH for all the thoughtful input, I really appreciate YOU ALL!!!!!
I think it would be fun to do a party in the pumpkin patch. They usually have hay rides and corn field mazes. Plus all of the kids can pick their own pumpkin to take home (built in party favors!).
I love all of the ideas already suggested. My daughter and her friends loved to cook at this age. I would give them a budget and let them come up with a menu, take them grocery shopping and then come to the house and cook up the meal. I let them decorate the table any way that they wanted. (My husband and I cleaned up) We took tons of photos and sent them little photo albums with the recipes from their cooking.
We also had one party that was a camp out, but in our back yard. We set up tents and did the grilling on our grill. We had them bring their sleeping bags.
They had a blast. Some of the girls had never really camped out before, so this was one way to at least get them to try.
How about warning parents ahead of time that at 6 (or whenever) Sat. morning, you will be coming to "kidnap" their child for a birthday breakfast at IHop. Everyone wears pj's and each time you run into the next friend's house, you have more and more friends waking them up and the fun builds from there! Since parents know ahead of time (kids do not), the kid will be dressed in pj's that can leave the house in, a gift is ready to take and parents will not be upset about getting woken up.
Another idea I used when my kids were young teens, was to pick up a group of kids later on a Friday evening, go out to eat (or whatever), then go to a midnight movie then head over to IHop for a very early breakfast and then maybe go someplace to watch the sunrise. It was very interesting to see who was at IHop at 3 in the morning! You could even take the kids late at night to outside the city limits and pull off the road, and let them witness the stars without the city lights! Unbelievable amount of stars up there! Good luck! PS I do not work for IHop, I just have found it an easy place to go with a load of kids! They are very used to a variety of people!
There is a place in Round Rock for girls that does the make over parties. I don't know the name of it but it is down the street from the RR Public Library. CB
When our daughter turned 13 we rented a convertible and picked her friends up in the car and brought them to the party at our house. Since you don't want it at your house, we also, for 16 rented a 17 passenger van and went to Trail of Lights. Pick up the kids and bring them anywhere your daughter likes. It was a blast for all the kids. They all got to get picked up and ride together and it was much cheaper than a limo. Have fun.
Ohhhhhhhh! Slumber parties are such fun at this age. Are you sure you cannot somehow manage this? It can be a little hectic for some people with all the giggles and possible squeals but they will all go home after breakfast and you can take a nap. Our granddaughter is a geat little host and everyone goes by house rules...... no mess, no dishes left in sink, etc.
The only other thing I can think of is a meal at a special restaurant, flowers on the table, place cards and favors, etc. Take pictures. Be sure you arrange with the restaurant to take a cake.
Or, what about a make-over party. I will do that for you. Call me at ###-###-####, no charge. I have make-up that is better for the skin than wearing no make-up at all.
A little about me. I have three grown children, seven grandchildren. I like young people. Our youngest granddaughter is 14 and she and her friends have had make-overs. Even if they are not ready to wear much color, they can learn skin care and maybe, have a little lip gloss.
