New Adventures in Mommyhood: August 2016

Last year in August, three weeks before her little sister arrived, our munchkin girl had her last solo birthday party. Once our second bundle of adventure arrived later that month, we knew we'd eventually have to answer the question of whether or not to combine their birthdays.

After some thought and discussions we opted to combine the girls birthday parties. Our reasoning was three-fold; 1. The girls are close enough in age (three years to be exact), that the activities and themes wouldn't be too age-inappropriate for either, 2. Most of our family and friends live out of town in San Diego and Los Angeles respectively; One celebration in the middle of the month between both their birthdays is much more accessible to our loved ones than a party at the beginning of the month and then again at the end of the month! And finally, 3. In today's economical climate, it just makes more sense. We are aware that our eldest will reach her teens while our youngest is still very much in childhood and we figure at that point we will give our eldest the option to opt out of a party and have a small outing with a few of her friends. But let's not get ahead of ourselves; we still have at least nine years before the dreaded teen years. Let me stay in my bubble of denial a little while longer.

But I digress.

Once we decided to throw a combined birthday fete, I needed to pick a theme, because if you've met me for even five minutes you've come to know this about me: I never throw a party without a theme. EVER. Anyway, I needed something versatile; something that would work for both my baby's milestone first birthday and my munchkin turning four. Cue my ever-so assertive munchkin; "Mami, I want a Jurassic World Cake!" And like that I had a theme; Jurassic World... Oh, and I get to try to make it work for my one year old and her similar-aged baby besties. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

This was the first time we were throwing a big party in the backyard of our new home so my first order of business was to find what would hopefully become our go-to party rentals company. After extensive research I took a chance on Guamos Jumpers and I'm so happy that I did; they offer wonderful package deals with the bounce house rental at very affordable prices. The next item on my to-do list was to book a caterer to feed our friends and loved ones; we are Latinos and it is in our blood to be all-inclusive in our celebrations so our parties are usually never under 30 people. This particular fiesta was planned for 50 adults, 18 children, and five babies. A few weeks of extensive research and cold calls later; I took a chance on Tacos Las Reinas which was the most delicious decision. Seriously, these ladies can cook! The tacos were as we say in the motherland, "para chuparse los dedos (so tasty that you lick your fingers)" Rentals; check. Food; check. Up next; the entertainment. After our Dino Days excursion (see June's post), I knew that the "Jurassic" critters that we had encountered had to make an appearance at the girl's Dino Bash. Jurassic Parties to the rescue; just check out the photos below! Rentals; check. Food; check. Cool Jurassic reptiles; check. Let's not forget the cake! This year my goal was to minimize stress so I went with Albertson's cakes and they did a fantastic job.

Thanks to Pinterest, I found a few cute ideas to accent the ambience and theme of the party; a dinosaur excavation site (special thanks to E for making the bones!), the munchkin's dino friends scattered among the tables donning party hats, some dinosaur balloons, dino nuggets, and a failed attempt to make the fossil print sugar cookies from Pinterest because it's not Pinterest unless you feel like a complete domestic failure. Someday, most likely soon, I'll write about my complicated relationship with Pinterest. Why can't I quit you, Pinterest?!

But I digress.

I have to say; none of this would have been possible without the loved chosen family (a term I use for those friends who have become the family you choose). They know who they are; our girls' Auntie D, Uncle R, and E who ran to pick up the cake that I forgot to pick up and who handled putting together the balloons and took care of my youngest so that I could be Mamarazzi, official photographer of the event. And Auntie M who drove up the day before to help me run errands, prepare the things we could do the night prior, and who kept me from an emotional breakdown during my fossil print sugar cookie debacle of 2016. Without these amazing people, this momma couldn't have pulled it off.

This year was a success, don't ask me about next year, I'll be in denial about next year's party for the next 8-9 months.

Party hat-wearing Dino guests