the wild animal party...

Turning 5 is a BIG deal!!! It's goodbye to the toddler years and hello to being a boy and a whole new world of independence, adventure and learning. So to celebrate this milestone we wanted to have a really special party for Austin this year, not that I need any encouragement, I LOVE kid's parties!!!

About a month or so before his birthday, I dragged out the trusty old Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book and looked through it with him to decide on a cake/theme. Austin was being his usual indecisive self, "I want the Dinosaur cake, or maybe the Tiger mummy, no no the Snake, no mummy I definitely want the Spider"...and so it went on through the entire book until we were both completely confused...

In the end we decided to have a wild animal theme. Austin has had a real obsession with animals for a while now and we spend a LOT of time at the Zoo and Aquarium, he never seems to tire of going (I do...). He particularly loves African animals, snakes and sharks, fish etc. which I guess has a lot to do with Steve and watching too much NAT-GEO Wild and fishing shows.

I am a bit of a nutter when it comes to parties and can easily get carried away with planning too much, but I made it my mission this year to keep it simple and actually try to enjoy my boys party instead of running around like a maniac. Living in an apartment means parties at home are out for the moment, so to keep it stress free we hired out a room at Newport Community Centre, which is across the road from Zubi and is perfect for kids parties with a playground and big outdoor covered area. And as it's pretty impossible to get someone in to do a show with African animals, we organised a reptile show to entertain the kids.

Austin was so excited for his birthday party, he counted down the days for weeks and talked non-stop about who was coming and the reptile show where he was going to put a snake around his neck. When Tony from Reptiles Rule arrived to do the show, he was beside himself with excitement...

Tony, he was such a character and made the kids laugh so much which put them all at ease..

Poor Noah sat right up front with no idea what was coming. When the 1st lizard came out he ran to Leigh, crying and saying "No thanks.."

Lulu the Blue Tongue Lizard

Cousinly love...

Tony got him to close his eyes and hold onto the bag tight, 

then he whipped the tail of the Bearded Dragon across his face.

The first snake, a Black Headed Python

Completely fearless...

Lily not so sure...

Now for the big one...

Alex not looking so excited...

Olive Python

Kids looking very concerned...

Crush the Crocodile

The African Animal cake, I cheated and used Schleich figurines, all part of my vow to keep it simple...

  

Lunch Buckets!!!

Caroline suggested packed lunches when I was toying with the idea of having his party at the Zoo, and what a great idea. Austin & I had lots of fun decorating the buckets and they made it so easy to feed the kids. Special thanks to Linda and Roberta for stuffing them with the goodies on the day.

Fake crying because he wanted another Zoo biscuit and I said no (there was only 1 in each bucket), Alex very nicely gave him his and all was good in the world again...

The orderly line-up for the Pinata...

Followed by the chaos...

Such a smug little smile...

He only got to blow 1 candle out, the no.5, the others just wouldn't light in the wind...

Hip hip hooray!!!

Cheese...

Partied out...

Austin had the most amazing party, a day he will treasure forever...

Thank you to all our friends and family who came and made the day so special...
Thank you to those who couldn't make it but sent their love and best wishes, we know you were with us in spirit...
Thank you to Tony from Reptiles Rule who put on such an amazing show...
Thank you to Chris, Roberta, Linda, Mum and Dad, for all your help on the day...
Thank you to Austin for the most wonderful 5 years...

Happy Birthday Sweetheart