Sound the Octo-Alert! The #AngTwins' FUNtastic Four Birthday Party (Octonauts themed)
This is a very delayed blog post as my twins celebrated their 4th birthday last October which means, we have 6 more months to go before I put on my DIY Mommy cap and plan for their 5th..OMG..FIFTH (!!!) Birthday Party.
I can still remember the day they were born and I can't believe that they've grown so much since then! If you ask me, 4 years old is the best age so far as they're at this stage wherein they can converse with you properly, they can understand what you're telling them and the world around them, they have better memory which means it's time to start filling their memory banks with trips, family bonding sessions and more. Furthermore, they're learning so much and so fast that I am still at awe that my twins can now do basic math, they know the 8 planets and can read basic words too. There are times though that I wish I can just press the PAUSE button to be able to savor more time with them.
Anyway, let me tell you about their 4th birthday party. In case you missed it, I've also shared how I've planned their 1st, 2nd and 3rd birthday parties. No matter how busy I get, I really look forward to planning their birthday parties. For me, this is my favorite past time and stress reliever.
The first thing that I do is to determine the theme. Mind you though, every birthday party planning for the twins is not only my own doing, Paul is just as involved so this means, we would have long discussions whether we should go with Mickey and Minnie (his personal choice) or something else for that year. I would also have to run the menu and giveaway contents by him down to the design of their invites. I'm just thankful that he's such a hands-on dad and this is why the twins love their Daddy so much.
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| What can you say about my graphic design skills? Improving each year ba? ;) |
Since their 3rd birthday party though, we also got the twins involved. After all, this is their birthday we're talking about. At age 4, they were starting to have different interests. L, the forever girly-girl, loves unicorns, all things pink, Barbie and Rainbow Ruby. As for J, he loves dinosaurs, cars, the color blue and sea creatures. One of the few shows that they both love would be Octonauts. This is a cartoon series on Netflix and it's about a team of undersea explorers who would take challenges to help other sea creatures in danger. I allow them to watch this as it has taught them all about marine life and they actually have learned about a number of sea creatures because of the show. J even can sing the Octonauts alphabet song! That's A to Z of all existing sea creatures!
Sounding the Octo-Alert!
As soon as we have both agreed on their birthday theme, I started working on the details. The initial plan was to have an all seafood feast but since the birthday boy is allergic to shrimps, crabs and salmon, I have to scrap that idea out. I also had to avoid giving any fish/shrimp crackers in their party bags as some other kid may be allergic too.
Their birthday fell during their school's semestral break so we weren't able to celebrate on their actual birthday. This means we will be having two birthday celebration for the twins and as fun as that may sound, that means, preparing two cakes and preserving the decorations to last until the 2nd round. Good luck to us on the latter one.
I kept the decorations simple, we had a blue backdrop and Ate L and R creatively hanged up the foiled balloons shaped in various sea animals. We also covered our gift table with Octonauts-designed table cloth. The twins were so happy that they wanted to touch and pull down the balloons for them to play with it as soon as they saw them. Needless to say, it took so much effort from all of us to restrain them from pulling the decors down before the scheduled video call with the family.
What's in their Party Kit?
I wasn't able to take a photo of the contents of their kit, I'm so sorry! I tell you. No matter how detailed I've planned and how early I start, I always end up cramming and getting all dazed on the day. Hay, wish I'll be able to document more this year.
Anyway, here's what we got for their classmates, teachers and cousins:
- Personalized Pillow Paint Kit with Assorted Octonauts designs
- An assortment of the twins' favorite snacks (eg: Oreo, Fudge Bar, etc)
- Dutchmill (their favorite after nap-time drink)
and we printed out bag tags with the recipient's name on it.
We're so thankful that their school helped us deliver the kits to their classmates to we were sure that they will have it in time for their school birthday celebration.
The Menu
Food is very important for me and Paul. In every party that we throw, from our wedding reception down to the twins' birthday parties, we give the topmost importance to food. Even if we were in the midst of a pandemic then, we made sure that we sent out some of our favorite dishes to family and to their godparents too. This year was made extra special because Paul personally made spaghetti for the party. He cooked a huge batch of Tuna and Scallop Tomato Basil Pasta and this is what we sent out to our immediate family and we made sure to keep a big batch of it to enjoy here at home. The twins loved it! tuna and scallops are just some of the very few types of seafood that's safe for J so we're glad that the birthday boy gave his Daddy a happy thumbs-up sign. He even asked for more! *claps*
We paired the pasta with Sincerity Fried Chicken which is also another favorite of the twins and J. Co donuts for dessert. All their godparents and our extended family got boxes of donuts too!
As for their birthday meals here at home, we had Paul's seafood pasta and I ordered Borgy's famous Crispy Pasta and Baked Salmon on the eve of their birthday and on their birthday itself, my mom ordered Cha Misua (shrimps on the side) from our favorite Lazy Susan as well as Seafood Tofu and Stuffed Chicken from Casa Lao.
Let me tell you more about some of these dishes in my succeeding blog entries.
When it comes to their cakes, J wanted Mango Cake while L requested for Strawberry Cake. Not wanting to disappoint one over the other, we then had Mango Cake for their first celebration and the Strawberry Cake was what we had for their second celebration with their classmates. Both cakes were from Sainte Anne, my favorite home baker which I just discovered during the pandemic period and believe me, she makes the yummiest, fluffiest strawberry/mango cakes in town! It's so light and creamy that one slice will NEVER be enough. See, even the twins know which cakes to ask for too!
It's been a family tradition of ours to get together to celebrate a birthday. However, since we all opted to stay safe and home, we had another online birthday candle blowing for their 4th birthday. This time, it was less chaotic. No more tears and screams. Instead, we had a pair of twins who were both so ecstatic that it was their birthday and they gamely sang their birthday song with the family and excitedly blew their candles out.
As we tucked them in bed that night, they both told us how happy they were and they even thanked us for making it such a happy birthday. My heart! ♥ How can we be THIS lucky to be blessed with such sweet angels? For them, we will make sure to plan and give them the best and happiest birthdays every single year.
Check out my other DIY birthday party posts below:
Tutti-Fruitti First birthday at Vikings Jazz
Jumping in muddy puddles : Second birthday at Sunrise Buckets
