a petting zoo picnic party (x 3)

birthday girls...i adore them.



and birthday parties are just so much fun.



call me crazy, but i actually do love having the girls' birthdays so close together (october 8, 15, and 17). i will probably be singing a different tune in a couple of years, but for right now (at 4, 6, and 1 years old), it's a good thing.



so, we had a petting zoo picnic party this past weekend.





after lots of rain and crazy warm temperatures for october, the day was gorgeous!








(i love this photo of us. i had to flip it because blogger cuts off the right side of photos, so poor cate was missing! the original photo is here.)

it was such a good time with family, a few friends, yummy treats + food, and the most wonderful bring-it-all-right-to-your-own-backyard petting zoo around.















i think that the kiddos (and a few of us grown-ups, too) had the best time with the animals.







for having so many littles together in the early afternoon (prime naptime for most), the only time a few tears were shed was when the realization hit that the animals were not party favors and would be going back to their own home with miss ashley.











if baby bunnies could have fit in pockets, believe me, i would be typing this post right now while two tiny black+white ones gamboled at my feet.





i've wanted to have chickens for a while now (really, with all of the eggs we eat, it would be a good thing), and this just about sealed the deal. the fact that eme told a ridiculously detailed + believable story recently about a chicken visiting her school makes me love this captured moment all the more.



and here's a bit of randomness...a wallaby, mixed in with all of the farm animals. he (or she?) was so sweet. the tail amazed us! it was so long + heavy. when he/she had enough of the kiddos, back into the little bag he/she hopped. i could actually have carried him/her in cate's sling, as he/she was practically the same size (except for that amazing tail).









i was a maniac with the camera (as i am sure that you have noticed by now!), but i wanted to have at least one shot of each kiddo with his/her favorite animal. unfortunately, i missed abby + jeffery (one because she is so quiet and the other because he never stays still!) holding an animal. if anyone out there took a photo of either of the kiddos, please let me know. i wanted the photos to add to the party favors i made.



we've been singing "five little pumpkins" around here for the past month, and that seemed to fit perfectly with the stack of five little animals that i gocco'd onto the invitations, so the "birthday celebration poem/coloring book" became our party favor. really, it was one more excuse to use those chubby little animals that i drew...love them!







they also made a handstitched appearance on pockets on each of the girls' dresses. lily + eme picked the lamb for cate, and then lily took the pony, so eme decided that she would have the rest, the chick + rabbit + piggy. i found this pattern on etsy (mindy blogs at froglegsandponytails and i don't remember how i actually found it, but it was a link through flickr, more than likely), and it is right up there with this pattern on my list of quick + cute dresses (along with this one, which i still need to sew up!). of course, i didn't give myself enough time, considering that i was making 3 birthday dresses, but the last one was completed a couple of hours before the party, so i would say that pretty good for me! on a side note, i'm thinking about making this pattern a pdf like my lilybird chandelier pattern, and it's on my short list of spoonflower contenders (which i have yet to actually do!).



no cake could rival last year's, so we went with delicious lemon doberge + a chocolate-lovers'-dream cake from a local bakery. but, we needed some sort of edible cuteness, so sugar cookies, cupcakes, icing, and brownies became "burgers + fries". (i'm still trying to remember where i first saw these, and when i do, i'll add in a link. ahhh...here, of course! )



i think that edible cuteness was achieved, and they really did taste good, too! my big tip here is to get that tray/box of pre-made brownies from sam's and scoop out (no cutting here, just quick + dirty!) enough to roll into a little ball in your palm. press that ball flat, and you have a "hamburger" patty. many, many thanks to wade, lily, + eme who helped to assembly these much quicker than i thought possible!!!



a quick note about the dollhouse that the girls got as their gift from their cousins...it really is very fragile and not made for actual playing with, it seems! as cute as it was, part of it arrived broken (replacement parts were shipped the next day), another 2 parts broke as wade was putting it together, and then the same 2 pieces (but on a different door!) broke within 35 seconds of it going from tabletop to ground. the day after the party, i packed it all up, spent 45 minutes on the phone with a lovely magic cabin employee, and ordered this as a replacement (which looks much, much sturdier, and the girls say they like it better!). this is one more reason that i will continue to order from magic cabin (we all love cate's new ride). their customer service has always been wonderful, and they (in my experience) totally stand behind their guarantee of 100% customer satisfaction.

whew.

now all that is left are the thank you notes (more gocco-ing of my little animal stack soon!).



i'm thinking that next year's party will have pumpkins and of course, buntings (applecyder's tissue flags totally inspired the bunting on the girls' invitations!).

maybe i can actually NOT be last minute next year?

and i suppose that this little piggy might just sprout wings.



ahem.