Jul 02 2008
The Babito’s Birthday
The Babito’s 2nd Birthday (can you believe that?) is coming up at the end of August, and my wife has already started planning it. Here’s some of the preliminary thoughts and plans for the party, in bullet-form:
- The theme is going to be Elmo. Babito has an Elmo chair, Elmo Books, a tickle-me Elmo, and various other Elmo-themed toys. I’m actually Elmo’d out, but he loves him. He loves him so much that he actually hates when we actually tickle his tickle-me Elmo. He used to cry whenever we set it off and would run over and pick him up. He’s not as bad now, but he still doesn’t like for Elmo to be tickled.
- My wife looked into getting an Elmo to come to the party, but the prices were ridiculous - $200 an hour! Elmo is not on the invitation list.
- The funny thing, to me, is that the party company that provides the “Elmo” doesn’t call him Elmo. When you ask if they have an Elmo available they say that they have a “Red Monster” available for the party. I guess they’re afraid of the Sesame Street lawyers coming after them.
- My wife and I agreed that this year’s party would be more intimate. Last year we had the party on the hottest day of the year. We had canopies set up outside around the pool, but everyone ended up cramming into the house because it was 110 degrees outside, probably 105 in the shade.
- The preliminary guest list is 100 people! (so much for intimate) I looked over the list but had a hard time picking anyone to cut. After all, my wife has 8 brothers and sisters, so half the list is just her immediate family.
- We plan on having a “Taco Man” come to provide the food. We’ve been to several other parties with this type of catering and it’s really good. They set up in the back yard and cook up carne asada and carnitas and serve real Mexican tacos, rice, and beans.
- To replace Elmo, we’re looking into getting a mobile petting zoo. Has anyone done this for a party, and if so, how did it go? The company we may go with sets up a 20′ by 20′ pen that includes mini goats, mini sheep, a rabbit, chickens, a tortoise, and an alpaca (which is like a much smaller and fluffier llama, according to their website). They also have a larger zoo that includes all of the above, plus a pig (that does tricks!) and a miniature horse or donkey.
- We thought about getting a bouncer, but The Babito is still a little young to be going in there with other kids, and Daddy doesn’t want to spend the day (especially if it’s 110 degrees again) inside the bouncer!
What have you done for a 2-year old’s birthday? Anything that really stood out as fun and exciting? Please give us some ideas in the comments…..
100 people? Yeowza!
Elmo is such a cute theme! I had no idea hiring him to visit would cost an arm and a leg
My daughter’s bday is also at the end of August. Every year it’s always hot. For her 2nd birthday we kept it small and intimate. We ordered pizza’s, had pretzels, crackers, and little munchies for the kids, and salad, dip, etc for the adults. We also brought out all of her toys, a new play tent, etc for the kids to play with. At her party, most of the kids her age were not able to really usual games, they just wanted to run around and play with toys. All the kids received their party bags early and they had little instruments and toys they could play with so that there would be no fighting
Hope Babito’s b-day turns out to be a success!
Holy freaking cow! That’s one heck of a party you’re throwing!
Our history has always been a backyard bar-b-q with friends and family (usually around 15 - 25 people) for each of the kids’ birthdays. I was so sick of birthday parties this year that we just had a special day for my son where we did everything he wanted to do all day, and that was such a nice break for me! I’m sure next year that will change as my daughter will have school friends and we can scale the parties back to just being about kids…hopefully at a location other than my house!
Good luck to you…parties can be fun but also very tiring, so make sure you have a day to relax afterwards!
Your son’s party sounds awesome.
We’ve never went all out yet for a party…usually just a potluck type deal, a guest list of less than 30, and lots of toys for the kiddos. This past year (Audrey’s 2nd birthday), we booked a pavillion at the local park, but it was rained out. Boo.
Good luck!