Aly decided that she wanted to have a birthday party this year (the first time she’s wanted one), so we tossed around ideas for a while before settling on “Adopt a puppy” as our theme for the big event. Keep in mind that our house is pretty small, and we invited 24ish kids, so we had to plan for both indoor and outdoor activities. Thus, we planned the party for Saturday, but had a scheduled rain date for Sunday, and we ended up needing it, because Saturday’s weather was low 40s, rainy, and windy. Sunday ended up as a beautiful day, weather wise.
Setting up outside
Since most of the parents had never been to our house before (we’re antisocial, thus, I blog), we put up a few signs and balloons to let them know they found the right house:
Puppy Adoption Center
Once entering, attendees passed through puppy streamers before heading to the adoption center to select their new puppy.
Once they picked out their puppy, they received a puppy bag to carry a few things, and a checklist of the activities they had to undertake for their new puppy. Puppy paw print stickers checked off the boxes, and paw prints also showed the path forward through the house. Each child also got a custom adoption record once they chose the name of their dog.
Grooming Station
Dogs were brushed, collars were decorated.
Dr. Aly’s Office
The birthday girl decided that she wanted to be the veterinarian and set up shop so that each dog had to pass through her station. There was a bit of a logjam early on while the doctor examined all the pups, but I think she enjoyed that.
Dog Bowl Decorating
From there, new dog owners proceeded to the bowl decorating station to affix all sorts of crafty items to their bowls.
Heading outside for kibbles
The kibbles and bits station had some snacks for the kids, but the real attractions outside were not the food.
Dog Park
We wanted to make sure that we wore the kids out a bit if we were going to sugar them up, so the backyard dog park was created with balance beams, a mini trampoline, a tunnel and our swing set. This was clearly the hit of the party.
Dog Bone Dig
We had a few other activities outside for the kids. We filled up a kiddie pool with cedar shavings and then hid some small prizes (and coins) in the shavings for the kids to find.
Fire rescue
We drew fires on the driveway with chalk, and put a tub of water inside the fire truck. Fire Chief Bill then gave the kids a sponge to race over and put out the fire. This was quite popular as well, probably because it wasn’t 40 degrees outside – even kids don’t want wet hands in 40-degree weather.
Frisbee Fetch & Ring Toss
A few more games to entertain the kiddos
Ice Cream
Aly had the kids line up behind her like the end of recess (hilarious!), and they packed in like sardines while they waited to get their toppings at the sundae bar. I was tasked with summoning the kids who were running everywhere, and all it took was one yell of “ice cream” for them to run over and line up.
Notice one adult trying to sneak ahead of the kids by using the other side of the table. Kids, you better grow up quick.
Random Pictures of Leah from the day
She coped rather well, considering she was awoken from her nap by the arrival of the hordes.
Present Time
Our concern about having all these kids in the house turned out to be unwarranted. After ice cream, the kids all came inside to watch Aly open presents, and 15 kids literally crammed into 9 square feet.
What an awesome idea!!! I want a puppy party!! I am sure she will remember this forever!