Parker's Puppy Party!

Parker's Puppy Party--try saying THAT five times as fast as you can!  :)

But it happened. Our little man turned three and had a puppy party!

His actual birthday fell on a Thursday this year. Kyle took the day off work so we could spend time as a family and have a personal celebration before the party.
Over the past  month or so Parker has really taken to a little foam bowling set we had around. Because of this new bowling obsession we thought it would be great to take him to a real bowling alley.  So we started off his day by going bowling. He was SO excited! We had bumpers put up and asked for a ramp to make it easy for him. After pushing the ball down, he would grab onto the ramp and jump up and down laughing. It was so cute seeing his excitement in trying something new. And he's the perfect bowling companion. Because no matter now bad our own throws were, he would clap and shout heartily, "Good job Mommy! (or Daddy). The highlight, though, was Parker getting his first strike! It's all he's been talking about for the last four days. 

Next we headed over to the SF zoo. We've been there several times over the summer but it never gets old. It's somehow relaxing to wander around and watch the animals. One of my favorite spots is the hippo exhibit. Not because I particularly love hippos, but because it's always sleeping when we go, so it promps Parker to shout, "Wake up, hippo!" And if we ask what a hippo says, Parker replies, "Haha haha ha!" (it's a sound his hippo flashlight makes, so now he thinks real ones make a goofy laughing sound as well). At some point, yes, we will correct his animal sounds. But for now, well.....it's hilarious.  :)

Anyway....

We planned his birthday party for late Saturday morning. We started the festivities with two of Parker's favorites for lunch--cheese pizza and cheetos. Healthy? Nope. But it's a party, right?!  :)

After lunch the kids played for a little while. And then we brought out the box. The kids were crowding around asking what was inside. 

It was time for the much-anticipated puppy adoption! 

Not to worry--no real puppies were adopted. ;) 

Parker has a thing for puppies/dogs. Early this year we were in Walgreens and we happened to see a small stuffed dog in the toy aisle. He asked if he could have it and since it was only a couple dollars I said sure. And that's how it started. He carried that dog around with him every day and night for months. He got a second one later on and then he carried them both around. Since then he's acquired a couple more and loves them just as much. So when he picked out a puppy cake for his birthday, I knew  exactly what we'd do for his party--a puppy adoption! He and all his little friends could pick out a small stuffed dog to take home with them. I saw it first on pinterest and thought it was the cutest thing ever! 

We had lots of boxes around so I grabbed a big flat one and cut off three of the flaps. The only newspaper we had was a small flyer, but it worked fine (disregard the puppy in the corner. He had a little accident). As for supplies, I bought a yard of paw-print fleece at Joanns and cut it into small squares for blankets. And I found a set of paw-print bracelets at Oriental Trading that were perfect for collars. I waited until they had free shipping and they ended up being pretty cheap. Once I got them, I had to shorten them slightly to fit around the dogs, but it was nothing a pair of scissors and a glue gun couldn't handle. And finally, I had some doctor/vet supplies. I wasn't going to get those, as the only ones I found at the toy store were a little expensive and I wasn't sure if they would be played with after the party. But, as luck would have it, I was at Target a couple days before the party and I found small doctor kits in the dollar section. Yay! 

I opened the box and laid out the supplies next to it. Starting with Parker, we let all the kids go through and pick out a puppy, a blanket and a collar. 

Then they took it over to Daddy, who was the in-house vet that day, for a check up to make sure their new pet was healthy. Turns out Parker had to give his puppy some medicine...

He loved it! A couple of the kids weren't sure they wanted a dog, but once they saw the others having fun picking one out, they quickly came over and wanted to join in. Here are the happy new pet-owners! 

Last on the agenda was dessert! I had found some fun dog-themed ideas online. Although it was overkill for the number of guests we had I went ahead and set everything out anyway. 

Dollar Tree had these huge dog bowls that were just the right size to hold snacks. We had:

Puppy Chow

Doggie Biscuits (iced cookies)

Doggie Treats (Scooby graham cracker bones)

Rawhide (Pirouette wafer cookies)

Fetch Sticks (pretzel rods)

And of course, the cake! I decorated it on Friday while Parker was napping. When he wandered out later I lifted him up so he could see it. He looked at it for a minute, then gave the biggest smile! Makes me so happy to make him happy. :)

Seeing how excited he was about his party and all his friends coming over made today the perfect day. While I was changing him into his pj's later I asked Parker what was his favorite part of the party? 

His answer? The puppies!