dino party!

yesterday we had a "school friend" birthday party for Q at the delaware museum of natural history.  after weeks of stressing out about it (we're going to have too many people!, omg, no one is coming!, and back and forth like that) it was finally time to party.  we could only get into the museum 30 minutes before the party to set up, so that added to the stress.  to ensure that we could get it all done in time, we ended up getting to the museum 45 minutes before it opened.  so we played outside.  i even tried to get nice photos of the kids sitting on a big rock, but i should know by now that that's not possible.

we also played with the assorted animal sculptures to kill some time

almost time for the party!

this is everything we brought with us

then there was much frantic setting up. we hired Q's frog room teacher ms. diana to watch the kids so both jeremy and i could focus on the set up.  it was crazy, but we got just about everything done before guests started to arrive.  but i didn't get to take any pictures of all the decor, because peeps started showing up.  and a small room filled with 5 year-olds gets insane fast.

Q models his first project - his explorer hat

i had stations set up at each table for the kids to do dino-themed projects.  the first three projects were explorer hats, dino coloring pages, and some dinosaur cut-outs made from that cool black paper that you scratch and cool colors come through.

you can kinda see the room and the decor.  it was really dark in there - no windows

on an adventure

what the activity stations looked like

another shot of the room

the museum did not allow much in the way of decor (no balloons, no streamers, no confetti, no pinata, nothing hanging on the walls, or ceiling) so we were limited in what we could do.  i got some inflatable dinosaurs to bring some life to the room.  mr. t-rex was a big hit.

pretty purple dress

goody bags!  well, boxes actually

then we had a live reptile and insect show

first up was a bearded dragon

then some sort of tree frog

there was also a tarantula, but it did not come out of its box (thank god) nor did i want to get close enough to photograph it.  but it was there.  trust me on that.

last came the ball python

caroline wasn't afraid to touch it

snake demonstrates why she's called a ball python

then on to lunch

dinosaur fruit salad

swamp dip (aka guacamole)

the cake.  we got it from BJs.  they did the orange and purple.  i added the green and the dinosaurs.

"fossil" sugar cookies

this is only a "half" cake from BJs.  the whole cake serves 75!

blowing out the candles

still....

daddy was cruel and put the candles too far apart :)

and just like that, it was done.  i thought it went well.  kids seemed to have fun.  parents said they did too.  then we had another quick thirty minutes to clean up the joint (much easier!)  caroline peed in the nature nook.  and then we were done.  breathe.

oh wait.  we're doing another party next weekend.  yay.

swim faster!

Q, watching olympic swimming on TV: "are there sharks in there?"

growth spurt methinks

for lunch Q ate:
-10 chicken nuggets
-a helping of cheez its
-a handful of mini marshmallows
-a helping of goldfish
-another helping of cheez its

for dinner he ate:
-3 uncrustables peanut butter jelly sandwiches
-a ham and swiss roll-up
-another serving of cheez its

(don't judge the lack of veggies. pickle had some mass consumption of tomato-induced poop issues today so we are taking a momentary pause on the veggies. to his credit, Q was upset his dinner did not also include a vegetable salad.)

good to know

today Q invited his teacher to his upcoming school-friend dinosaur party.  he said, "ms. alex, do you want to come to my dinosaur party at the museum?  you don't have to be scared... they're just fossils."

the enforcer

Q's teacher had this great story to share with us from nap time yesterday...

Q does not nap; instead he plays with his ipod while resting on his nap mat.  (i know, i know.  i don't love it either, but this is a product of a few months ago when the ipod was the only thing keeping him sane in there.)  they put him at the edge of the room, behind a folded-up mat so that the kids who do actually nap cannot see him playing angry birds.  there is another non-napper in the class and he and the teacher were playing and laughing while the rest of the class napped.  apparently quentin took offense with this, because he got up off his mat and reprimanded them, "excuse me.  what do you think you're doing?  this is quiet time.  it is not play time."  ms. alex thought it was so funny that she giggled, but Q gave her "the look" and then said, "do you see my face?  does this look like a happy face??"

already

Q: when i'm 5 can i drive the car?
me: no. you can drive when you're 16.
Q: ugh. 16 is going to take a long time.

before she was a princess...

rapunzel had to make her money as a stripper, jumping out of birthday cakes. poor punzel.

her name is...

the doll's name is patra.  like cleopatra, but without the cleo.  caroline picked it out.  no one knows where the heck it came from or why it was selected, but she has stuck by it.

similarly, she recently named a stuffed kitty "tonio" and she's sticking with that too.

the birthday party

which had more costume changes than a lady gaga concert.

we had caroline's family birthday party here on her actual birthday. (i'm only two weeks late posting... sue me.)

the first ensemble. selected by pickle herself.  handmade lace dress. thrift store. $2.99. yeah.

already ready to splash

the cake made it out without getting dropped.  phew.

they may not be smiling, but they are both looking at the camera, which is a victory in my book.

caroline informs us how old she is.  it took several attempts before she got her fingers to cooperate.

awwwww

trying to get a good pic of all of them.  i raised my hand to get their attention and they copied.

then i gave up and had them make silly faces

they really enjoyed making silly faces

a lot.

mmmm. delicious princess.

getting serenaded

blowing out the candles

liberated

and delicious

do you think she realizes that i totally just re-used her treat box from her class party?

nightgown. with all the princesseses on it

aladdin

think we all got our gift bags at the same place?

this is fun

book!

Q was very excited that his treat box contained the croc/gator (i keep meaning to look that up) from "where's my water?"

trying on our new dress-up shoes

can't wait to have to pick all these up off the floor.  thanks grandma :)

another princess's boy.  eric, perhaps?

i wonder who's in here!

by this point she's figured out that mommy went *a little* crazy when the princess dolls were on sale at the disney store.  she was only selecting the princess-shaped ones off the pile.

fairy godmother! pickle is very concerned because she doesn't have legs.

ginny models every piece of jewelry from her treat box

so excited!  pink sneakers just like ginny's!

and pink crocs just like ginny's! (during beach vacation - caroline would only wear ginny's shoes. her own were simply not cool enough.)

her very own american girl bitty baby doll

i think she likes it!

not that i was really concerned, because every time the american girl catalog comes in the mail, she tells me it's her favorite book.  she even brought it for "book day" at school once.

must accessorize further

pinata time!

free-for-all.  except for caroline, who wasn't really interested.