9-12 Years Old Birthday Party Theme - Helicopter Ride
I planned a great birthday party for my daughter, Alice last week. She loves anything exciting so I decided to take her on a helicopter ride to celebrate her birthday.

It was much easier than you might think. There are many companies where you can rent helicopter for a very reasonable rate, but I didn't want a helicopter ride just any place. Though Alice was born in Arizona, she had never seen the Grand Canyon. I invited three of her friends by calling their mothers personally and told them what I wanted to do. After answering a few of their questions and concerns each thought it was a great idea. The Grand Canyon is only about three hours from where we live. Though there was only six of us we had a lot of camping gear. So I rented a mini-van for the trip. The plan was to camp at the Grand Canyon and take the helicopter tour in the morning.

I taught the girls some road trip games, which kept them busy the entire time. They liked the alphabet game the best. They had a great time finding the letters of the alphabet one at a time on road signs and license plates. Another game they played was to find cars with license plates from each of the fifty states.

We finally arrived at the main entrance to the park. Once inside we followed the map to the nearest camping ground and set up camp. The girls were beside themselves with excitement. They couldn't wait to see the Grand Canyon, let alone from a helicopter. We had to wait until the next day for the ride, but we did drive up to the tourist center and see the monstrous canyon. I think the mothers were more awestruck than the girls. I guess in time they'll be able to understand the enormity of it.

We drove back down to our campsite and started a small fire in the out door barbecue. I was looking forward to opening a bottle of wine after the journey. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and told ghost stories. The girls wanted more, but we had to stop, the other mothers and I were getting scared. This of course entertained the girls even more. They tried to scare us the entire night. I admit at times they actually did. It wasn't until I threatened not to let them go on the helicopter ride they turned in and went to bed, a mother's duty.

The next morning we were up and ready. We gathered round for some pictures. We packed up our gear and put it in the two cars. Then we drove back up to the visitor center and waited in line for the helicopter ride.

Finally, it was our turn. We were all able to fit comfortably inside. Alice was beside herself with excitement! I was taking pictures with one of my five disposable cameras every five seconds. Then the helicopter went up and we flew over the Grand Canyon. Oh my goodness! Seeing the canyon from above was incredible thrill. It was absolutely unbelievable. The girls were squealing with excitement at first, but even they became silent, only their eyes spoke of the amazement they felt.

When it was over we ate at the visitor's center cafeteria and had ice-cream cones. Alice told me this was the best birthday she ever had. I have to admit it was my favorite too.