Peyton's 3rd Birthday Party

We chose to celebrate Peyton's birthday at his favorite place: Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in San Jose. My cousin Darlene flew up on Friday to bake Peyton's special dinosaur cake, and I must say that it was a masterpiece - inside and out! Not only did she draw the dinosaur faces on the bottom layer free hand while looking at pictures for inspiration, but she brought dinosaur figures to be on the top landscape layer. The cake itself was a yellow cake with a fresh peach filling and sliced strawberries with a non-dairy whipped cream frosting. Delectable!

 

 

Peyton and his little buddy, Naoki, played "Stop and Go" for a little while. Naoki is Peyton's best friend from Stepping Stones. He adores Naoki and his baby brother, Koki, and James and I adore his parents too!

We arranged for Happy Hollow's signature character, Danny the Dragon, to come and visit the party. Peyton was so happy!

He brought a present for Peyton, a Danny the Dragon t-shirt.

We took a couple group pictures with some of Peyton's friends. We had a great turnout. In all, there were 36 people in our party. It was wonderful to see all of Peyton's friends come to celebrate.

Peyton wanted to see what "really sharp teeth" feel like. Of course, these were made of felt, so I think he was confused.

Danny played Peekaboo.

Peyton found Danny's tail!

Then, the fun really started. Dancing and games! They sang "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes", the "Hokey Pokey" and played "Freeze Dance". Everyone had so much fun!

A duck came to see what was going on too.

But, it didn't stay for long. It took off so quickly, that I felt as if a wing could have cut my ear off while I took this picture.

Danny tried to get everyone to play "Hot Potato".

While they were playing "Freeze Dance", Peyton started asking Danny the Dragon to chase him around the party area. I owe the person inside the costume a big tip for indulging Peyton by running around in that giant suit in close to 80 degree weather, FOUR TIMES!

Danny ended his visited (20 minutes later) with a round of Happy Birthday and cake. Peyton was excited to see his dinosaur cake.

But, he didn't like it when the frosting ended up on his hand. My little perfectionist. :-)

Danny posed for a great picture, but Peyton was still not pleased about the frosting hands.

Peyton perked up when we sang Happy Birthday.

And, he was so happy with the candles!

Peyton gave Danny a big hug when it was time for him to leave!

Our friends the Gumberts came with their daughter Emilia and a little brother due in two weeks! We were so thankful that they came.

Peyton's teacher from Stepping Stones came to the party with her daughter, Bella. She gave Peyton a Dinosaur Train card that sings the theme song when you open it. He loves it!

Peyton's friend Mia gave him a big hug before she was packed up to go.

Peyton showed Mia his card.

He was shy when Irena said goodbye to him.

My friend Jill from high school has a beautiful daughter, Paloma. Isn't she just adorable?!

After the party, James and Peyton went on a couple rides while my parents, Darlene, and I cleaned up the party and packed the car. There's a little roller coaster at Happy Hollow. James said they rode it five times! My little daredevil. :-)

I went back in, after packing the car, to return a cart our party coordinator had lent us to move out everything, and I ran into James and Peyton by the carousel. We waited in line for one last ride and Naoki's family was in line behind us. We were able to get them to ride together, and his mother Satoko, put his baby brother, Koki, on a lemur behind us. Beside horses, Happy Hollow's carousel has endangered and extinct animals to ride on. Peyton chose to ride the Bengal tiger.

Naoki's Dad, Aki, had fun with Naoki!

Naoki really liked all the fun stuff to see on the carousel!

Peyton and Naoki finally smiled for a picture together. Peyton adores Naoki!

It was a long day, but I wouldn't have changed a thing. It was a fun party, and I hope it will be one of Peyton's favorites!

Peyton's First Birthday Party

We had Peyton's birthday party at Stafford Park in Redwood City yesterday. We chose it because it's a beautiful park, not because it shares our name...

Peyton enjoyed seeing and meeting our friends. While I was talking to Sandra and Jim, Peyton was looking at Daddy.



James was the host with the most yesterday. He prepped and cooked all the food, even grilling burgers to order! My hero!



Our friends the Gumberts and Rinaldis chatting.



My Mom and Dad enjoyed themselves (there was another party in the grass next to us).



We ordered cupcakes from the Love Bites Bakeshop. I've tasted quite a few cupcakes, but these are the BEST. Better than Kara's Cupcakes and WAY better than Sprinkles. We first tasted these cupcakes at Dominic's birthday party in March and I knew that I had to get them for Peyton's. Kathryn was a dream to work with (she bakes out of her home) and is a true professional! We ordered three dozen: Carrot.

Snickerdoodle (I think these are my new favorites).

And Peanut Butter Cup (James' original favorite, he now likes the Snickerdoodle ones best). I now need an excuse to order cupcakes at least once a month. Cupcake of the Month club anyone?

Everyone grabbed a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday. (Jenni and Jim brought their dog Pico - he was a huge hit with the kids!)

Peyton wasn't sure what was going on, but he really liked all the singing!

Dominic was eyeing the cupcake boxes, waiting patiently.

The patience paid off - he got to taste a Snickerdoodle cupcake with Mom and Dad!

Peyton was pretty tired after the party (he refused to nap yesterday), so I took a picture of him with a leftover Snickerdoodle cupcake this morning. He manged to scoop some frosting off and played with it.

I kept the cupcake as far as possible on the highchair table and he tried his very best to get it.

Sadly for him, I didn't let him taste the cupcake (Mommy's breakfast!), but I figured I would let him look at it. :-)

We'll be opening presents tonight. Peyton was just too tired to open them after the party yesterday (he was asleep within an hour of getting home).