1/19 - PAW Patrol party

It happened again.  I'm not quite sure how, but those little twins of mine have grown one year older (and cuter!)  I now have eight year olds on my hands.  Oh my.

We decided on a PAW Patrol theme, a show we enjoy watching (and re-enacting), about action rescue dogs with excellent vehicles and gadgets.

We started the festivities with the traditional "please bring a healthy treat" request from the teacher.  I'm not sure that I'd call these healthy per se, but they were not sweet, delicious cupcakes.  No.  I sent "pupcakes" instead.

Next up, one "pawty," which Lil' Guy kept hearing as "potty."  (He was not amused.  He lobbied for a "ruff ruff" party, but I am too juvenile to pull that off appropriately.)  We used printables from Nick Jr. for the invites and to decorate the house.  Thanks to Mama for her balloon and streamer wrangling!

"Pupcorn" holders:

I got dog bowls from the dollar store and used them to serve meatballs, little smokies, Scooby Snacks (graham crackers), Whoppers, etc.

And how cute are these lollipups?

We stationed every dog stuffie we could find (there were lots!) around the house as decorations.  For the goodie bags and prizes, I got stickers, dog collar bracelets, paw print stampers, some little plastic dogs, and Scooby Doo sour candies.

We played a few very fun games.  Lil' Gal set up a Fetch station for the kids to play while everyone arrived.

Our first game was Pin the Badge on Marshall.

Then we played Doughnut on a String, where the kids got to eat like dogs, with no hands.

We played Dogcatcher, where the kids took turns being the dogcatcher.  When they tagged someone, that kid had to go to the doghouse (predesignated area) until another kid tagged them out.  If the dogcatcher caught all the "puppies," s/he won.  (I just gave the kids that wanted to be the dogcatcher two minutes to catch as many as they could, then switched to another dogcatcher.)

We finished up with everyone's favorite canine version of Hot Potato.

Then, it was time for cake!!  I tried a technique I found on Pinterest for making the PAW Patrol characters in frosting.  Aside from having to make 11 different colors of buttercream frosting (which all tasted delicious!), and forgetting to reverse the image, it went pretty well.  The kids loved it.

Happy birthday, my sweeties.  I hope your 8th year brings you all kinds of joy.  You are my joy.

Love, Mommy