Calling All Party Animals!

I cannot believe it is this time again. It feels like it could only be a couple of months since our last party, but somehow an entire year passed. Yikes! This year I decided to do a Jungle themed party - mostly because I knew what I had on hand and in my craft stock and I could pull this party off with the least money :)

I had a blast with the decorations - especially getting creative to see what I could find around the house to use. Things like:

Their "jungle" animals to welcome people to the party.

Jungle animals to decorate the table (and provide entertainment for the kiddos).
Leaves for borders and trees made out of things like

magazines
and gift bags!

Combined with felt leaf garlands, raffia vines, streamers, monkeys, and more animals I was able to create the "jungle" I had imagined :)

One of my favorite finds for the party was foam animal visors! Enough jungle animals for each kid to have one (and for a great price!!!!)

Before the party, the twins enjoyed playing in the decorated basement. The balloons were their favorite, and they had a blast letting them go...until they couldn't get them back!

Friends started to arrive and the kids gathered in the playroom. They had 11 friends who came to their birthday party!

This was H's first birthday party (aside from his own)!

Allie & E jumping in the trampoline.

An entire playroom full of toys and the balloons were still the clear favorite!

After the kids had a chance to run around, we played our party game - Safari Search! We hid hundreds of scraps of paper with animals on them. Each animal was worth a certain number of points and the team with the most points won!

Poppy helps Cuppycake find animals.

Calculators had to be pulled out to add up points :)

After the game, the twins opened presents. Opening presents turned out to be a group effort. I always feel badly (especially since 8 of the 11 kids at the party were within a 6 month age range of the twins) for little kids during the present opening. It is hard for them to understand why only 1 (or, in this case, 2) kid gets to open presents. So I willingly invited their friends to help (especially since the twins are young enough that they don't mind). Granted, it got a little frenzied, and I'm still finding presents that I didn't know they had been given...

Ryan and M open up the train to play.

These aprons were part of a gift and Ryan wouldn't take his off!

B helps Allie open a puzzle.

After presents we ate (things moved quickly with as little downtime as possible). I carefully planned an entire meal that was egg and dairy free so I could enjoy a party where I didn't have to follow the twins around to make sure they didn't steal something they were allergic to from someone else's plate. I enjoyed the party so much more. It was AWESOME!

After they ate - cupcakes!!!! After last year's disgusting cupcake debacle (the vegan mix at the health food store was not yummy), I researched and borrowed advice from friends to find a yummy cupcake AND frosting recipe. I can honestly say I could have eaten this frosting with a spoon! Funny moments: I forgot to put TWO candles on the cupcakes! I had a candle lit in each and was walking toward the table when someone pointed it out. Ooops!

Turns out that Ryan and Allie still do not know what it means to blow out a candle. They tried to touch the flame instead...mommy and daddy quickly remedied that situation!
Ryan dug right in.

After MUCH careful contemplation, Allie ate the bottom first (notice the green top behind the pink ball), and the top later!

The twins had a blast (and I hope everyone who came had just as much fun)!