Beep, Beep, Beep! Birthday Boy Coming Through!

We made the decision, a week before the world shut down, to cancel your party. Even the “realist” in me thought we would be able to have it in six months. In a year for sure. 

Fast forward to a year later and while there was no 75 person blowout at Natsunoya Tea House like we had originally planned, we held a small drive by for friends and family — several who you’ve never met. Because we realize now more than ever, that every occasion is an occasion to celebrate. And that you should always take advantage of that.

I got the idea after I saw a friend doing pony rides and a petting zoo for her own son’s birthday party. And then another friend used them and it sealed the deal. 

One of E’s favorite books is the Little Blue Truck series and he LOVES animals. So a Little Blue Truck themed party was a no brainer.

Paniolo Parties was great to work with and very responsive via email (especially when I asked to make changes to my event not once, but twice).

They showed up 45 minute in advance of the start time to set up. And they did an excellent job of cleaning up after the animals throughout the visit. 

While E loved seeing all the animals he only really wanted to pet the bunnies and for the first hour didn’t want to go near the mini pony. But after seeing other kids ride it he mustered the courage and loooved it. I think he’s actually going to be very sorely disappointed the next time he goes to his Papa’s house and there are no animals for him to play with or ride.

To keep it as socially distanced as possible I asked the parents to schedule a time slot and families had 15 minutes doing pony rides and 15 minutes at the petting zoo. There were bentos from Natsunoya (so I guess we were able to relive a small part of his first birthday party that never was) and cookies and goody bags. But I think the kids only cared about and enjoyed the animals the most. The adults too, ironically enough (including several of my friends who wanted to ride the pony and have a petting zoo of their own for their next party). 

Thankful to our friends and family who made time to celebrate with E and make this his best birthday yet. I’m pretty sure he’s going to expect a petting zoo and pony rides every weekend for the next month, so being two years old will likely prove to be a great disappointment for him.

Also, Todd might have to get him a pet bunny.