Safari Birthday Party

Jaden & Cody, wearing their pre-party birthday shirts
Doesn't Cody look especially excited to be 1?

We're not quite sure how it happened, but somewhere along the line, Jaden became our Frog Man and Cody our Monkey Boy. Maybe it's because they each have a special blanket with those respective animals, or perhaps it's because baby clothes often depict frogs and monkeys. But for whatever reason, the frog toys or clothes have always been Jaden's, and Cody has gotten all the monkey items.

Because of this, it was easy to pick the boys' 1st birthday party theme-- A Wild Safari with a special focus on monkeys and frogs. It was so fun planning party food and decorations along this line. Here is a closer look into their special day:

DECORATIONS & SET-UP

Our guests were greeted at the door by a series of animal pictures (hooray for my fun Cricut!) and a couple of "wild" signs.

All of the guests received a homemade treat bag containing animal crackers.

When the guests arrived, we first directed them to this table. My sister gave me the fabulous idea to buy a safari storybook for each boy and ask the guests to sign the cover. Each guest wrote a special birthday message for Jaden and Cody. What a fun keepsake! (Thanks again for this great idea, Kimbo!) Also on this table were a couple of photobooks I had put together on Shutterfly and the basket of treat bags.

On our nearby fireplace we displayed 3 photo posters of the boys (easily put together through Costco). We had one poster for Cody, one for Jaden, and a dual one-- all containing pictures from each month of their life. We loved the way the photos showed how much the boys have grown. Plus, these posters now make perfect wall decorations in our downstairs family room.

Also on this wall, we hung the boys' birthday banner, lovingly made for them by their Aunt Sarah. How lucky I am to have such a crafty, creative sister-in-law!

Around the house and on the mailbox, we hung animal print balloons. Actually, I should rephrase this... As the party was getting closer, we were a bit frazzled with all the last-minute details, so one of our early-arriving guests ended up blowing up all these balloons and decorating for us. (Thanks for stepping right in to help, Laura!) She had many great ideas for where to display these fun balloons.

THE SWEET TREATS

I spent quite a bit of time the month before the party finding safari theme ideas on Pinterest. I love love loved all the creative ideas I found! These adorable frog cupcakes were in honor of Jaden.

And the monkey ones, of course, were for Cody.

Despite having a VERY delayed flight, Grammy arrived at our house just in time to help with the safari cake. Not only did she provide TONS of helpful expertise, she was also the one to find the cute zebra platter that served as our cake plate.

Here is the un-iced cake. Yes, even the cake itself has zebra stripes!

Because Grammy had told me to freeze the cakes ahead of time, icing it was a snap!

We then used Tootsie Roll pieces (that had been heated, rolled flat, and cut) to decorate the giraffe layer and the tiger layer.

Writing the birthday message...

... and ta-dah-- the final product! We debated for a while on how to display the number 1 candles so it wouldn't look like someone was turning 11. (Oh, the weird scenarios you run into when planning twin parties!)

My favorite part was seeing what the cake looked like on the inside. Isn't that fun?! (Notice that the cake was served on your choice of plates-- monkey or frog.)

Here is what our "sweet treat" table looked like. 

THE FOOD

Our main dish was Sloppy Safari Sandwiches, made by Chef Grammy. (Sorry, no pics of this tasty dish. It went quickly!) We also served a Snake Sandwich,

Ants on a Log (Grammy artistically arranged them on a bed of celery leaves. Isn't she clever?!), 

Lion Veggies (perhaps a bit creepy... but still kinda fun),

Safari Bugs (cheese & pretzels),

Gorilla Grapes and Monkey Trees (broccoli),

and some Safari Worms and Jungle Vines for the kiddos.

Guests could pick up their drink of choice at the Watering Hole outside.

PARTY EVENTS

Before the party began, my dear friend Katie came over early to watch the birthday boys. Jaden and Cody know her well since she visits our home nearly every Tuesday (for Bible study) and Wednesday (for fun!). Katie is such a gift to our family!

Cody and Jaden show off their party attire--
monkey & frog outfits from Grammy & Papa

Because we had such a wide age-range of guests attending our party, we didn't have any specific events scheduled for the evening. We knew most of the guests would just want to eat and visit. To give the younger ones some entertainment, however, we had a variety of games & activities set up on blankets around our yard. Some of the activities included animal charades, safari books to read, animal guessing games, and a safari hunt for animals. You can see some of the blankets set up in the picture below. If you look really closely, you can see some of our guests reading with Jaden.

As it turned out, though, the biggest hit of all was just playing in the sand!

Cody and Jaden tried out the new bubble mowers they received (thanks, Wayne & Connie!).

And Jaden enjoyed playing peek-a-boo under the table with Alecia.

THE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

After most people were done with their food, we started the traditional birthday activities. First, Jason and I took a moment to share some unique qualities about Jaden and Cody. We figured this was one way we could give them a bit of individual attention amidst their shared celebration. Jason first talked about Jaden...

...and I said a few words about Cody.

Then, our crowd of 40 friends and family members sang Happy Birthday.

Unfortunately, the outdoor weather was too breezy for the birthday candles to stay lit, so we just gave the boys their cupcakes without the candles. Jaden hesitantly explored his frog cupcake.

Cody, on the other hand, jumped right in and attacked his cupcake. This, however, was the only bite he took. Right after this picture was taken, he threw the cupcake down and wouldn't touch it again.

Jaden wasn't too interested in eating much of his cupcake either. You can tell by the ring around his mouth that he enjoyed his Sloppy Safari Sandwich, though! By this point, I think we had one tired birthday boy on our hands...

All in all, we felt that our Safari Party was a success! We had gorgeous weather (only a few drops of rain), a good turnout of guests (including an international friend from Thailand via Skype-- so good to see you Janese!), and birthday boys in a pleasant mood. Hooray! Thanks to all who helped us celebrate and to all who wished Jaden and Cody well from afar. We thank God for our little 1-year-olds!