Jack's First Birthday- Puppy Party

I had fun planning this party. I got the idea to do a puppy-themed party a long time ago when Halle attended one as a three year old. I decided Jack's first birthday would be a great opportunity to plan one!   

Invitation

I was a GORGEOUS day for an outdoor party!  I was thrilled.  The weather was perfect!

My kid has become the most laid back little guy.  Every time I pick him up from childcare at church or the gym, the staff ooohs and ahhhs over how happy and good he is.  Not at his party though.  He was in a foul mood, lol!  But I didn't mind.  There were plenty of adults to pass him off to.  ;)

Our birthday gift to Jack was a sandbox.  Brian spent the entire day before the party building it.  It's 4 ft by 8 ft and is awesome!  He did a great job building it.  Arden and Halle both helped with the project and were super excited to have a sandbox.

I originally asked him to build a sandbox by the party-date so kids could dig for "bones".  Funny how I completely forgot about that part by the time the day rolled around.  Awww crap.  Reminds me that I also forgot to do the Barking Contest.  Oh well.  This sandbox was the highlight of the party.  At one point I think 17 kids were packed in there having a great time.   

For lunch we had Pup-peroni pizza and the kiddos ate out of doggy bowls :)

Other items on the menu were Toilet Bowl Punch, Pupcorn, Fetch Sticks, Puppy Chow, Ruffage, and Pupcakes!

We had a doggie "photo booth" set up.  Honestly I didn't think the kids would care to dress up and take pictures, but they stood in line and begged for their turn.  Colton (on the left) especially liked pretending to be a dog!

The boy doggies

Princess Puppies

The kids played some doggie games too.
"Feed the Pup" was the favorite game among the kids and even some of the adults.  The kids took turns throwing dog biscuits into the pup's mouth.

This next game didn't quite go as planned.  It was a relay race and there were two teams.  Each player was to go on all fours down to the end, fetch a newspaper with his/her mouth and return.  Except the preschoolers didn't understand that they were to wait their turn! Or go only once!

There were watercolor pictures to paint as well.  Mostly the girls enjoyed this.

Bingo is a dog, so we played his game.  Almost everyone bingo'd at the same time!  Worked out great so we only played one round.   

And Blue from Blue's Clues left some scavenger hunt clues for the kids which led to what he wanted to do at Jack's party.  Some of the kids (the ones not playing in the sandbox) followed Crystal around to search for the hidden clues.  The bigger kids helped the younger ones figure out the clues.  I asked Crystal to be animated like the show.  The older girls cracked me up because they felt awkward playing along.  Blue led them to the birthday cake!

CAKE TIME!!!

I probably could have personally licked all of the Oreos to remove every bit of white frosting, but I don't think the guests would have appreciated that.  

Jack was being a toot because he was cranky.  At first he didn't want the smash-cake and kept trying to push it off of his high chair (middle picture.)  That's before he realized it was cake, though!

He was in a much better mood once he had his cake.

Arden and Cole helped Jack open his presents.  He got lots of toys, clothes, and sippy cups!

For goodie bags, the kids got "doggie bags."  They got a bone cookie, dry dog food (Reese's cereal), and a dog food can filled with plastic toys.  

I always give my sister, Ruby, a hard time for showing up when the party is over.  This time she was only an hour and 15 minutes late!  That's improvement!  Here is my god son, Austin, to prove that they made it, ha!  I love that sweet face.

I personally think the party was a success.  I am usually stressed out during parties, but at this one I was relaxed.  I enjoyed it.  The kids had a great time, which is really all that matters.  I love planning parties for them and giving them memories.

This is two hours AFTER the party ended.  The kids are playing the Feed the Pup game again!