Onboard Noah’s Ark!

Noey’s birthday week culminated in his Noah’s Ark Party on Saturday, and it was a total blast.

I didn’t start out wanting to have a theme party, but once I had decided on Noah’s Ark, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a really popular party theme, which made researching for ideas and finding themed materials not too difficult.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the way to enjoy the party planning process is to start early and not put pressure on oneself to execute all your ideas. Also, get help where you can! One of my better ideas this time round was the decision NOT to have the party at home, thereby eliminating the additional concerns of having to clear up both before and after the party. My estate strangely enough does not have a function room so I decided instead to have the party at Scrumptious! Cafe at Turf City, because a) it was near my place, b) they have a nice large play area for kids to run around in, and c) it’s part owned by my friend so it was easy to get things sorted the way I wanted it.

And I’m so glad I did cos they did a great job with the food and decor.

Still missing the lovely animal balloon bouquests done by Su cos they hadn’t arrived yet when these pics were taken!

Purple monkey — both of them!

The photo line was DD’s idea and I must say it was executed wonderfully. I’d tasked him to dress up the venue with photos but when he suggested a photo line I had my doubts. Mostly cos I could not fathom how he was going to choose 30-50 photos from the nearly 10,000 that we have. (Yes, we apparently have nearly 10,000 photos of Noey. Don’t ask.) With a ruthless selection process — mainly with ME being the ruthless one — the task was done. And I must say it looked GREAT.

I’d asked folks to come as an animal or bring one along to gain entry and almost all the parents sportingly did dress their kids accordingly! I’m so glad.

Sean the super adorable monkey.

Kristy, the cutest little bee on the Ark! Our little miss best-dressed.

Sophie, the prettiest little butterfly around, who came despite having suffered a fall recently.

YK, the lion monkey hybrid. Haha. That cap was actually supposed to be part of my costume — Yes, I can apparently squeeze into a toddler’s cap. Again, don’t ask — but Noey just wouldn’t let me keep it on.

And speaking of Noey, he was there in costume as NOAH (but of course!)

Credit for his outfit has to go to my Mum who chanced upon this towel robe and altered it for him. It’s supposed to have a rope belt but I ran out of time and decided to skip it.

And to round off the theme, I indulged and got a 3D Noah’s Ark cake from ecreative in a chocolate mousse. It turned out great, except that it was so big, we’re still eating our way through the leftovers!

Noah’s Ark with the animals, two by two

Happy Birthday Noey! He was more interested in the giraffes than the candle!

Noey gets his first taste of cake. Fortunately he soon gets distracted by something and does not ask for more.

One of the things I did go a little crazy with were the party gift packs for the little guests. I wanted to give the kids stuff that they could use and enjoy, and as a result, ended up with 4 categories of bags: Infants (<6 months), Babies (6-12 months), Toddlers (1-2+ years) and Kids (3 and above). The Infants and Babies got Board Books, with the Infants having an extra Boat toy to make up for the fact that they had no food. The Babies got Baby Bites. The Toddlers got organic animal-shaped cookies appropriate for their age group. The Kids got real (tastier but still animal-shaped) biscuits and a small packet of gummys.

The toddler’s pack containing a Noah Storybook, Organix Organic Animal Biscuits, Healthy Times Teddy Puffs, Animal Stickers, and an animal bath toy. (The pelican is an extra).

I also ended up enlisting my Mum’s help to make the bags cos I could not find appropriate sized ones to fit all my combinations of items. My complicated system meant that only I knew which bag was supposed to go to which child so there was a mad scramble each time, and a couple of mix-ups. I’ve also still got one bag with me, mysteriously unaccounted for. Let me know if we missed you out! But overall I was so pleased with them.

All in all, I enjoyed myself tremendously. It was tiring, but there was great satisfaction in being able to celebrate such a memorable occasion with our friends and family. It’s not everyday your baby turns one!

With Mummy’s family

and Daddy’s family

All the children plus 1 parent!

Noey’s Godparents and Sophie

Looking forward to next year’s party! (I can hear DD groaning already, at the prospect!)