Happy Birthday Ashley!

Wednesday morning Ashley had a Jungle Party for her birthday. She woke up to the front two rooms being streamered into a jungle. There were 9 trees with leaves and branches from one to the other making a canopy. I wish I would have got her reacation on tape, because her jaw dropped and she turned towards me with a wide eyes and a huge grin and said, "It's a jungle". It reminded me of Christmas morning.

While all the little guests arrived we had coloring pages and puzzles out to keep them busy. Once everyone was there I started the party by telling a tale about our poor zebra who's stripes were missing. While the zebra slept the jungle animals came and took them! The jungle animals thought it was silly but it made the zebra sad. The zebra needed our help to get his stripes back.

Before we can go into the jungle looking for animals we need binoculars. The kids decorated their own binoculars with animal stickers and crayons.

Then they were off! We had a jungle animals (plus a bear and sheep); enough for each kid to find one animal and the accompanying stripe. After they found all the stripes they got to put the stripes on the zebra. They were so excited they didn't wait for tape.




After our zebra was happily put together we played a rhyme game.
"If I were a lion, a lion, a lion I'd go like this _____" and we substituted in other jungle animals.

Then it was Cake time!

After the cupcakes, we brought to life the song "5 little monkeys swinging in the trees". Some kids were monkeys while others were crocodiles. Ashley couldn't wait to play the game and kept running over asking me "play crocodile now?" and I'd say not yet. By the time we finally started she went and sat on Grandma Wendy's lap and cuddled and watched the others play. After all the monkeys were "snapped" we played another round and only had two monkeys, Rachel and her friend Preston. When the crocodiles went to "snap" them they were smart monkeys an ran away- that was the end of the game.

Now it was time for presents.

I hope everyone had fun, because I know Ashley did. We got a group picture but Ashley refused to be in it.

Like most parents I wanted Ashley's birthday to make her feel special. I think she got it.

Happy Birthday Ashley!