Dino-Mite Fun!

GRRR! It's my Dino-Mite 6th Birthday Party! Meet the First Little Nguyen...the Birthday Triceratops! His big day was postponed due to the wave of sickness that hit us in February, but it was well worth the wait! Having had enough of the over-commercialized parties, we decided to par things down a bit (okay, a lot). I remember fondly the dress-up parties and sleepovers of my childhood. Every year when my birthday rolled around, I looked forward to planning the details for my special September day. And this year, the First Little Nguyen got to do the same thing....he helped plan and prepare for his own Dino-Mite celebration! I love that, and he did, too! I think he inherited my creative gene. The living room was transformed into a prehistoric wonderland! There were inflatable dinosaurs, a brown paper volcano, and the coolest backdrop (thanks, Oriental Trading!) that really set the scene. The First Little Nguyen invited 8 little friends, and, together with the Second Little Nguyen, that made the perfect "10."

We started out by making Triceratops masks...some good old-fashioned crafty fun! Really, when you look at the masks, it takes a six-year old's imagination to understand them. We used sugar cones for the horns (poor Chi was stuck hot gluing them in place), and PRESTO! Instant Triceratops! The most hilarious part was when they started charging at each other! One of the moms shouted, "STOP! You'll crack your cones!" Luckily, the cones were quite sturdy. Ellie did have her way with one, however, after the party ended. But that's another story.

After getting down with our crafty selves, we headed outside into the beautiful sunshine for some games! You know, Triceratops, Triceratops, T-Rex! and the like. The kids split up into teams to relay to "hatch" their balloon "eggs" at the "nest" across the yard. They sat on their balloon "eggs" to pop....I mean "hatch"....them. When the eggs hatched, the kids found baby dinosaurs inside, and they had to race back to their respective teams with their newborn dinos! (Thank goodness Grandma B. was here to visit a few weeks back...she helped me get those &*$^#% plastic dino babies inside the eggs!) We pretended to be paleontologists and excavated dinosaur eggs on the deck. Thank goodness for good weather. It was a a very sandy experience!

Well, egg-hatching really works up an appetite in little dinosaurs! We headed inside for Dino Dogs (hot dogs) , T-Rex teeth (Doritos), Trees and Logs (broccoli and baby carrots), Diplodocus Dip (Ranch Dip), Dino Eggs (grapes). This, of course, was followed by Cretaceous Cake! And what else would one blow out on a prehistoric birthday cake but a......volcano with a tea light! Later on, when we asked what he wished for, the First Little Nguyen said, "Another 6th birthday party!"