Kai loves watching Dora and Diego so I decided they needed to highlight as the main theme. I went all out for this kid- and he had a great time. We had about 25 people (parents and kids) and we let them run wild at Coffee 'n Scream (an indoor pay area here in Calgary). There was one organized game although I came prepared with crafts, tattoos and lots of candy to really ramp the kids up before sending them off with loot bags and cake stuffed bellies! (We never got to the crafts and tattoos).
But, the day started out dicey...
Kai woke up on Sunday morning with an insanely runny nose and was super stuffed up; I was a little bit nervous because it was not possible to hide the crazy snot sneezes that were coming out of this kid! (read: welcome to Kai's party, have some pizza, cake and then, take home a fresh head cold!)... but we persevered.
There were many funny Q moments but my favorite was when I showed Kai his finished cake... I said, "Do you like it?".... he responded with silence, then gave a nose wrinkle (in distaste) and told me Dora was missing and that he should eat some of the Smarties and help me put Dora on. Hmmmm nothing quite like a punch to the gut after you slave for 96 hours... but I knew it was good- so who cares right? Jeff was praising me left, right and centre ( Good man!).
Some highlights:
-Backpack and Rescue Pack loot bags,
-bowls of candy guarded by a Dora/Diego character ( I thought I was genius- pinterest genius that is! )
-a giant Diego helium balloon and blue star balloon ( Connor loved these )
-a Diego "3" cake that looked professional if I do say so myself- but it was a little dried out... I was worried about undercooking... damn cake recipe! Ahh well- it was still good.
By the time we all got home, Connor was passed out in his car seat, Kai was melting down and Jeff and I were bleary eyed... We all had rest-time and Jeff and I acknowledged the 3 distinct post-party stages:
Stage 1 SHOCK: "That was a whirlwind- did that just happen?",
Stage 2 EVALUATION: "Was it even good enough? Did you like it, Did I like it and Did Kai like it?" and
Stage 3 RELIEF: "Wow, glad that's over, maybe never again!"
These stages were distinct for Jeff and I and we laughed about it and I figured there was so decent blogging material in the emotions I felt but maybe I'll wait unti after Connor's 1st birthday to put that into words!!