How to Party, Dino Style

I started planning Ethan's 4th birthday party a few months ahead of time.  In previous years, we kept things simple.  A couple of family members or friends, no other kids, and a minimal amount of sugar.  This year was a bit different.  Ethan is finally at the age where he plays with, and not just next to, his friends.  I allow at least five extra minutes for preschool pickup, knowing that Ethan will run around to each of his classmates and give hugs and/or blow kisses.  He's also old enough to really understand what birthdays are all about.  And when he asked me for a dinosaur birthday party, well, that settled it.  We were going to go big(ish) this year.

Step one:  Design the invitations.

(I gotta give Pinterest credit where credit's due... I totally stole the whole "ROAR means Happy Birthday" thing!)

Step two:  Goody bags.

Those dinosaur eggs are actually jelly beans.  Yum!

Dino egg close-up.

Step three:  Food.

I did a carnivore, herbivore, sweetivore, snackivore theme.  Turned out a little heavy on the sweetivore/snackivore side, but hey... it's a party.

I had Bugles as dinosaur claws, pretzels as dinosaur bones, grapes as (healthy, non-jelly bean) dinosaur eggs, and PB&J cut into Brontosauruses (Brontosauri?).  I also had dinosaur chicken nuggets, fossil cookies, and Jurassic cupcakes.

Made the fossil cookies, but bought the cupcakes.  Best.  Decision.  Ever.

Step four:  Activities.

Knowing that four-year-olds have a very short attention span, I tapped into my teaching roots and set up stations around the backyard.  We had a table to make "D is for Dinosaur" crafts.

Here's an example of how a stuffy adult makes a D dinosaur...

The kids took this very seriously.

Like, need-a-mid-crafting-juice-break seriously.
Must've been tiring adding that fifth leg to his dinosaur.

There was also a dino dig where the kiddos could channel their inner archeologist and unearth dinosaur skeletons.

I underestimated how popular this station would be.
I may have even seen a few adults get in on the dino dig action. 

Hands down, the most stylish archeologist I've ever seen. 

The final station was a dinosaur relay race, using a claw grabber to transport a plastic T-Rex back and forth across the yard.  I don't have a picture of this, so I'll paint one for you.  Close your eyes.  

Go ahead, I'll wait.  

Okay, imagine a gaggle of preschoolers who 1) don't have a lot of experience with relay races, 2) are still developing hand-eye coordination, and 3) are all hopped up on sugar.  Pepper in a few encouraging shouts such as "No, no, run over *that* way!" and "Okay, sweetie, your turn is over now."  

Yeah, it went a little something like that.  Moving on. 

Step five:  Goofiness with good people.

Start with some of these:

Pack of 12 for under ten bucks?  Thanks, Oriental Trading!

Add the world's best godfather and a few new Hot Wheels:

Totally incognito.

And you've got yourself a recipe for awesomeness, my friend.

When the time came for cupcakes, Ethan was stoked.

Woo hoo!

Those "washable" dinosaur stampers?  Yeah.
Took three days and two baths to get rid of.  ;) 

All in all, I'd call it a success.  Ethan keeps asking if it's almost time for his next birthday, and has started putting in requests for themes.  Every so often, he'll bring up his dinosaur party from a "long, long time ago" and thank us for making it so much fun.
Melts my heart every time.

It's a Boy (and other news)!

I've been trying to think of a witty way to convey over a month's worth of updates, but I'm coming up with bupkis.

Should I do an alphabet-themed post?

A is for an AWESOME SUMMER!
B is for it's a BOY!
C is for... ugh, this isn't working for me. Way too cheesy. Next!

Should I do a poem-themed post?

The days have flown by and the posts have built up,
And now I have so many things to write about that I am having trouble figuring out where to start and it's super overwhelming and makes me put off posting at all which just perpetuates my problem and...
(Uh oh, that doesn't rhyme. Epic poem fail.)

Should I do an all-photo post?

Yes! That's it! I'll let the pictures truly be worth a thousand words! And then all I have to come up with are the captions. Which is good, because - stick a fork in me - between going back to work and finishing grad school and being pregnant and having a toddler at home, I'm so done. *sigh of relief*

Aunt Mary came to visit us this summer!
Yes, I said summer, and yes, she and Ethan are all bundled up on the beach. That's San Francisco weather for ya.
Ethan had his first visit to Fairyland, where he rode the carousel all by himself! Good grief - I blinked my eyes for one quick second, and now he's all grown up.
We found out that we're having a boy! I decided not to post the pic of his baby boy bits so as to respect his privacy.
But trust me, it's a boy!
We also celebrated Ethan's 3rd birthday, with a special boat birthday cake made by Aunt Mary! Oooohhh, aaaahhh!
And, just because I don't want to leave anything out, here's a quick list of happenings that didn't manage to get captured on film in pixels:

- Ryan got an AMAZING new job! He's now the Senior Photographer for Monster Cable. He handles all of their product photography for packaging and marketing, as well as serves as a celebrity photographer, capturing shots of some of Monster's endorsement partners. So far he's photographed Neil Young, ProHoeZak, JYP (the #1 pop star in Asia), and Chris Botti. Next up are Manny Pacquiao and Lance Armstrong.

- As we'll be needing our third bedroom for a nursery soon, Ryan's office has moved out of the house and into the in-law unit in our backyard that was converted into a studio! It's a great space that not only gives him the room that he needs for freelance work, but will also serve as our guest quarters when out of town visitors arrive.

- We had a bit of a speed bump over the summer when we got the news that the baby only has a single umbilical artery. Apparently, babies are supposed to have two, but our fetus is a minimalist. Our OB sent us to be checked out by a geneticist and a perinatologist, as the single umbilical artery can be indicative of genetic abnormalities, heart problems, or kidney problems. After a bonus ultrasound and some blood tests, everything that can be checked before he's born checked out just fine.

- I designed, and redesigned, and reredesigned the nursery decor with my friend, Stacie, and finally settled on a non-theme theme for baby brother's room. Ethan's theme was monkeys, and this time around I wanted to focus on colors and patterns instead. However, the room has slowly evolved into a woodland theme, but not in an overly obvious way. I'm creating some custom art pieces for the wall, and Ryan spent an entire weekend assembling furniture for me. It's all coming together!
Now all we need is the baby...

Birthday Boy Turns Two!

“A two-year old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it.” ~ Jerry Seinfeld

We put our little blender on full blast today for a cupcake decorating celebration. Luckily, we had the foresight to hold our little fiesta outside, with easy access to hose everything (and everyone...) down after we finished our fun. I thought that if I turned him loose with a few bottles of sprinkles, a plate full of cupcakes, and a tub of frosting, Ethan would decorate all of the cupcakes and then eat one.

Two years into this whole parenting thing, and I still have unrealistic expectations like that? Sheesh. Here's what actually happened:

1) Ethan dumps half a bottle of sprinkles on one cupcake.


2) He begins to make frantic "Ahhhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhh" sounds with his mouth wide open, signaling that he wants to do a little less decorating and a little more eating.

3) Ethan quickly scarfs down a cupcake, and sweetly smiles before asking for another one.


4) Mama of course lets him have another one.


5) After he finishes his second treat, Ethan proceeds to take a bite out of or lick frosting off of each of the remaining cupcakes.

It was the perfect low-key celebration, followed by a lot of running around the yard (and a huge sugar crash before bedtime)!