Emmettosaurus Turns One

Earlier last week Emmett officially turned one. As the week passed by, we were busy ramping up for his dinosaur birthday party. Saturday we had a dino-themed backyard barbecue and invited our family and closest friends to join us in celebrating Emmett's one-year-old status. 

After perusing Pinterest for a few too many hours, I had a vision for our dino-rific party. We made favor pails for all the kiddos which included dinosaur tattoos and fruit snacks, dino bites (which were M&M's) and a dinosaur keepsake. Sand was thrown into an inflatable pool where little toy dinosaurs were buried. Harper and Blake had a good time digging in the sand for their dino treasures. The main attraction (according to Harper) was the bouncy house. Mitch's boss let us borrow their bouncy castle for the weekend and Harper was in heaven. Every kid that walked through the door was bombarded by sweaty Harper running up to them screaming, "let's go jump in the bouncy house!" The older kids certainly bounced their little hearts out. Even the birthday boy crawled around!

The most challenging piece of the birthday party was the cake. I searched everywhere for a 1st birthday friendly dinosaur cake. With the huge popularity of Jurassic World, most of the dinosaur cakes I did come across had a big, creepy picture of Indominus Rex. Not exactly the cutesy dino theme I had envisioned. After three stops and three failed attempts to order a cake, I put my Mom on cake duty. The next day she went to Sam's Club to see what they could offer. We found yet another Jurassic World option. My Mom texted the idea of ordering a two-tiered cake and leaving the dino decorations up to us. I went along with the idea since we were running out of time. 

On Friday we went and picked up the cake from Sam's bakery and I was so excited to see the blue and green tiered cake. It was perfect, and thanks to ready-to-roll fondant, a x-acto knife, a giant "1" and a few plastic dinosaurs - our dino cake was complete! (and delicious might I add!)

Emmett had his fair share of cake on his actual birthday. We offered a giant cupcake during the party, but I had left it in the fridge a little too long. The firm frosting wasn't too smashable and he didn't seem too interested. He humored us for photos and managed to at least poke at it and pick it up. Clearly he understands the importance of a photo opp! :)

 

Emmett enjoyed opening presents even though he didn't do much opening. Harper nominated herself to be the designated gift-opener and she did an excellent job. E got such generous and thoughtful gifts. He's a very lucky little duder. The last few days our living rooms have been littered with new toys. We're reminding Harper that these are Emmett's gifts and she needs to share them with him. I'm learning it's hard for a 3-year-old to cope with the idea of a sibling birthday for the first time. Last week we heard a lot of "well what about my birthday?" from our December baby. Just a few more months Harper! :)

At the end of the night Mitch and I declared the birthday party a total success. It was so much fun catching up with family and friends and bringing all of our kids together. I think it's safe to say everyone had a rawrsome time. (I love terrible puns, if you can't tell!) Thanks again to everyone who came and helped us celebrate our sweet boys birthday. We're so grateful for every single one of you. 

Happy birthday Emmett, we love you so very much!

 

Until next time…
The Helleens