Now, even though I have never been to a puppy paw-ty before, I know, paws down, that this was the best one ever. When guests arrived at the door we had a happy birthday sign, custom with puppies and Raegan's name. Puppy paw prints were on the tile floor of the entry, leading past the puppy coloring table (where kids could color pictures of dogs and choose dog stickers) to the custom made-out-of-a-box dog house that Meg and I designed and painted. Each child could choose a stuffed dog from the dog house to adopt, name, and put their dog collar name tag on. Some of the adopted doggies names were Frank, Doggie, and Misty. :) Raegan's dog's name was "Raegan" so no one would take hers home by mistake. She fell in love with a little black and white one whose nose was apparently delicious to gnaw on. We rented a helium tank, so there were tons of balloons, including the custom made by Meg (based on a martha stewart template) puppy dog balloons. I also made a milestone banner, which featured Raegan's picture for each month through one year, and a custom puppy banner with Raegan's name on it near the kitchen.
While adults were snacking and drinking adult beverages, Meg ran the "Pin the paw on the puppy game," which subsequently involved stickers (safer) instead of pins, but everyone enjoyed none the less. After watching all of the kids put stickers on the dog poster, Raegan actually took her own turn, accurately placing her sticker on the poster....and then wanting to pull it back off when she realized she wasn't getting it back!
Next was the "toddler-ized" pinata (aka, a pull string pinata) in which each child takes turns pulling a string hanging from the bottom of the pinata. One of the strings opens it up and out drops the candy. Jasen couldn't find a place to hang it, so I dubbed him pinata holder. The thing opened on the third string pulled. Lucky kids! They swarmed like sharks to a swimmer. The candy didn't have a chance on the ground. I must have over estimated the amount of candy for the number of kids, because the parents looked pretty horrified at the amount of candy their child had gathered in their "doggy bags." :) Yes, the bags had dogs on them, too. The pinata had a dog on it, too.
Before time for cake, Meg, the famous face painting artist in Northern California, did some face painting! Paired with the puppy dog head bands I purchased, each child (and in this case, adults) could be transformed into a dog! What fun!!
We had to pause the face painting for some cake and singing. Raegan loved the singing and although she didn't dig into the cake (okay - there was no sugar in the frosting - I admit it) she did enjoy the whipped cream and the balloons tied to her chair. Oh, and she wore the happy birthday hat! Amazing! It was so cute having all of the little ones gathered around the table for the birthday song and cupcakes. Homemade carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (with a hint of orange in the frosting). Delicious! Meg and I devoured the gluten free ones. Some of the kids asked what kind of cupcake it was, so I said it was called "surprise" because I'm pretty sure they wouldn't eat it if they new it was made with a vegetable. The cupcakes had dog cupcake toppers on them. :)
Last, Raegan opened her presents (she actually did help open some) and the little kids loved helping us open them up!
It was so great watching Raegan interact with all of the kids, following after them, playing in the dog house, squealing when she saw them playing ball outside, and smiling from ear to ear.
The next morning, when Raegan woke up and Jasen brought her into our bed, she gave me five kisses. I'm pretty sure that meant, "Thank you, mommy, for my wonderful puppy party! It was so much fun!"
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