Angry Birds party

Bodhi decided that he really wanted an Angry Birds party.  He's been really into playing the game so we decided to go with that theme for his birthday party this year.

For decorations we started with Angry Birds plates, cups and napkins, all store-bought.  The goody bags were plain gift bags with printed face stickers of birds and pigs.  I found the free file online here: angry birds We filled the goody bags with chocolate eggs, light up yo-yos, mini markers and small notepads that i made with red cardstock and printed stickers. (another free file)

We had a ton of food.  We ran with the bird/pig theme and cooked up a bunch of fried chicken and had sides of potato salad, coleslaw, pigs in a blanket, deviled eggs, fruit salad, etc.  We also decorated sugar cookies to look like Angry Birds, eggs, and stars from the game.  These took a lot longer to decorate than i had anticipated, but they turned out pretty cute.  My sisters made the yummy cupcakes and we topped them with angry birds images. 

 For entertainment we had a couple of things for the kids to do. First, we had an egg hunt.  Easter isn't too far away and it wasn't too much of a stretch from egg-stealing pigs in the game to kids hunting eggs at the party.  I filled the eggs with small toys that I picked up at Party City.  We also made a "life-size" Angry Birds game made with some cardboard boxes and plush birds and pigs and the golden egg.  The kids set up their own castles and then would throw the birds to knock em down.  Lastly, I put up a giant piece of butcher paper with markers so the kids could create their own drawings.

artwork by Bodhi's cousin, Mason

A Day with the Fishes

Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer...

Bodhi's birthday party wasn't until the weekend, but we wanted to do something with him on his actual birthday as well.  So, I took the day off work and we all headed to the aquarium!  It's a pretty impressive place with two stories of exhibits both indoors and outdoors.  The kids really love to see all the fish, etc. and it's a pleasant place to just walk around and spend the day.

The rare Bodhi-fish

 Bodhi likes to run around and see everything.  They have little booklets that tell you more about the different animals and some of the pages have a place to emboss a stamp.  You can find the "stampers" in various places around the aquarium and Bodhi likes to try to get all of them.  It kinda helps to keep things a bit more organized as well.  Otherwise, he would be all over the place.

Fun for the whole family.

 Kira liked looking at the fish as well.  I think she just likes the colors and movement, but she also seems to understand that these things are alive and she'll laugh when something comes up and looks at her.  I think she liked the shark tanks the best, though also liked watching the sea lions swim around.

Don't feed the sharks!

We had a really fun day with the kids.  They both had a great time and we got a little cake for Bodhi when we got home.  It was just a simple, store-bought cake, but it was just to let him blow out some candles, so I don't think he minded much.  Next up, the party!

Way too much going on

Well, as you may have noticed, we haven't been keeping up with the blog lately.  There's a very good reason for this: Kira is officially mobile.  She's mastered crawling and can also pull herself to standing and cruise around the room holding on to tables, bookshelves, couches, just about anything she can get ahold of.

Of course, with all this cruising around there is a fair bit of falling down, too.  She's not used to getting hurt and, even if she just falls on her butt, she gets frustrated and starts to cry.  She's getting better every day though, and soon I'm hoping she'll let go and take a couple steps over to me.

I suppose I can wait, though.  After all, once she gets through that door there'll be no stopping her.  She's getting bigger so quickly I think I'll just enjoy each little step as it comes.