Turn Out the Lights (the party's over!)

We had the big Go Diego Go party for my youngest son's fourth birthday on Saturday. The only thing that didn't cooperate was the wind! We had to majorly tape some decorations down, modify others and watch some blow away! But at least it wasn't raining, and it turned out wonderful anyway! Here are some pics . . .


We set up a "Follow the Tracks" activity for the kids to find the party in our backyard. There were four guessing stations where the kids saw tracks on brown paper like this . . .
The tracks led to a sign taped to the house. . .
. . . which they could open to find the answer.
Once the kids "found the party," they came to a little table where they could make a video watch. They chose which animal they wanted, glued it on, then I put it on their wrist. They also got a Field Journal (laptop), that had the animals they had to find in a scavenger hunt. They put a sticker beside each animal as they found it. Once they found all 4 animals, they showed it to me and received a reward (beach ball globe that shows animals in their native countries--it's in a picture later).


Here are some pictures of decorations--outside and inside.
See the wind blowing the table trees?
The wind eventually blew the balloon tree tops away!




My handmade vines. I didn't put many outside because of the wind. So, the steps ended up with most of them!



The food was a big hit at the party. We had a kids' table with PB&J and chips, and for the adults, we had a Mexican spread. A taco & nacho bar, cilantro-lime rice, pasta con queso and my in-laws' famous homemade salsa! We also had fruit kabobs, jungle leaf sugar cookies and chocolate covered pretzels.









And don't forget the cake, made by a fabulous local bakery!

Our pinata was a palm tree that I found for $8 at Walmart the week before the party. I converted it into a pull-string pinata.

Bags to put goodies from the pinata in.

We had a rainstick making station on top of our deckbox (which kept the kids away from all the lawn toys inside!) We used paper towel rolls, which I covered with scrapbook paper. I had one end sealed already. The kids added aluminum foil coils, then poured beads in (which I had premeasured in cups labeled with each child's name.) Then they taped on the other end and added a pre-printed name label.

And last, but not least, the treat bags!



Everyone had a great time, especially the birthday boy and his big brother! I am glad, relieved and sad that it is over! A little like the day after Christmas! No birthdays around here until January!

Party Prep

It is party central at my house as I have been doing all the grunt work in preparation for my little guy's 4th birthday. I wasn't excited at first about his pick of a Go Diego Go party, but I have to admit that I have been having a lot of fun getting this together! I have also been cutting a LOT of stuff out! NickJr.com has a bunch of Diego related stuff, and I've been figuring out ways to use some of the printables. So here's what my dining room table looks like right now . . .


See all those green leaves? I cut them out--10 of each type. They will go on the brown paper bag vines, which I finished twisting today. I used green wrapping paper for the leaves. This pic is a little difficult to make out, but it is all the leaves traced on the paper before I cut and cut and cut.


As if that wasn't enough cutting, most of the stuff from NickJr.com has to be cut out too. I have already completed video watches, animal pictures for a banner, etc. and here is my next project . . .


These are Diego's field journal computers, which have an outside and an inside. I will be gluing them to a manila folder. They will have a list inside of all the animals the kids have to find for an animal scavenger hunt (very Diego-like, huh?) After I cut and paste 14 of these, I will move on to creating some animal tracks for our "Guess Whose Tracks" game. I can feel a hand cramp already!

Go Diego Go Party Favors

I have created my first inspiration board! It's not lined up very well, but not a bad try, considering I figured it out on Power Point while the boys played outside for 20 minutes! So these are my ideas for favors. Everything but the beach ball and the rainstick will be in the goodie bag. The balls will be out for the party. They are so cute with animals placed in their native countries. We will make the rainsticks at the party. I think I am going to use paper towel rolls, pipe cleaners and beads for this craft. I have read about mailing tubes, and I like the idea, but I think I'm too thrifty (AKA cheap!) for that. Has anyone ever done this craft before? If so, do you have any ideas? I found some printable Diego paper at Nick Jr.com that I am planning to cover the paper towel rolls with. They actually have some cute printable stuff for parties. I will probably use some other things they have as well. Now I have to figure out the goodie bag itself! My thought now is to use an orange sack with the circular label that Rescue Pack has (printable from NickJr.com). Then under the label, following the arc of the circle, I am thinking of writing, "Go (child's name) Go!" The bag itself is still in the works and could completely change between now and party time!

A Little Inspiration

So, now that we have decided on the Go Diego Go/Rainforest theme for Gavin's birthday, I can plan my heart out! I was not excited at first and kept trying to "steer" him in different directions, mainly because I was unsure of how I could execute this theme! But he has his heart set on a Diego party, and I have warmed up to the idea. Of course I have been scouring websites for cute ideas. I have found a few and will keep looking--probably up until just before the party! I do get obsessive over all the little details and wake up at night and think about it. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I love the planning process! Here are some inspiration pics that I have found so far . . . if anyone knows of other cute ideas, please let me know!

A customer at Oriental Trading posted these first two pictures. I love all the animal printed balloons. and mylar animal balloons (which I can't find!) The colors are great together.



These last two pics are from the Family Fun website. My sister-in-law is a teacher and does a rainforest unit in her classroom, and she had already told me about the brown paper bag vines. I had envisioned on my own (yay!) creating big leaves like these, so it was good to see them so I will get the shape right.

Party Planning

So, it looks like Gavin's 4th birthday bash is going to be a Go Diego Go/Rainforest theme. I was very opposed to this at first, and was hoping he would change his mind, but the more I think about it, I think I can pull it off! Once again, I am having a character party, but he just loves Diego so much that I can't not include him. So, I'm thinking that I will serve some sort of Mexican buffet. We had a Q-doba catered party for his first birthday on Cinco de Mayo, but crazy me is going to try it myself this time! Yes, his birthday is in May, and I'm already thinking about it. I do at least admit that this is a sickness! Other ideas I am throwing around are creating some sort of vines with paper and some sort of trees with balloons. I have already checked out my go-to online store orientaltrading.com and they have some stuff I can work with. I am getting excited!