Ariana's Jurassic Birthday Bash

Tasty dino treats, Jurassic activities, and pre-historic decorations all made for a great dinosaur themed birthday party for my little sister Ariana.  Planned by my Mami and myself, it was a fun day that we all enjoyed!  Here's what we did to celebrate...

In previous years, our Mami planned and prepared the festivities for both our birthdays by herself, but this time was different.  I've been throwing parties lately, and all three of them have been a success, so we decided that we'd be co-party planners. 

In the end I became head party planner since Mami was busy with other things and starting to get stressed out with so much to do, so I found the decorations, planned the activities, and made a few of the treats...it was probably my first time being in charge of her!

​Mami, however, dedicated herself to making the cake, since it's tradition, and although the ideas were my own, Mami helped out a lot and I couldn't have done it without her!  

And in case you're interested, the other parties that I've planned have been my Mami's Under the Sea Birthday Party, Mother's Day Woodland Brunch, and Tropical Birthday Party. 

Aside from ordering everything, preparation for the big day started on the 20th when I made the pinata!  I'd seen one that I liked on Amazon, but it was pretty expensive and wouldn't arrive on time, but I consider myself a creative person, so I decided to make one myself!  As soon as the materials all arrived, I started working on it and was happy with the results...what do you think?  

Before then, however, I had made these dinosaur tracks, which was a small project but still a cool little detail!

I also started this Triceratoss game a few days before, but I'm not sure exactly when.  I drew the outline, but Mami colored it for me, as I'm not good with marker and painting it wouldn't be a good idea.  I like how it turned out! 

And as always has been the case for the parties that I plan, the day before is dedicated to preparing everything, like cooking, baking, and then decorating.  My intention was to start first thing in the morning, but we didn't have everything that we needed, so Mami went out to finish shopping, and we got a pretty late start.  Mami got an hour or two of sleep in before we started, while I tried making some dino-shaped chocolates (they turned out more like fudge), but I didn't, and getting everything ready ended up taking all night!  

Anyways, while Mami was out shopping, she got a few additional items, like a cool lantern and some Spanish moss.  She also got a pinata stick which we stripped and then I redecorated!  I also filled the pinata itself with candy, and though I thought that it wouldn't hold much, it was actually really strong!  

Mami made the cake, with an additional layer which I used to make some cake pops (one of Ariana's favorite desserts!)  She also made some track-shaped sandwiches, and I made some caramel sauce for a pancake bar!

Decorating was next, and my favorite part was the entertainment unit!  We moved the TV and used the shelving as a dinosaur enclosure by setting some hatchling sculptures on it, with Spanish moss nests, and placing some chicken wire in front!

On top was a layer of craft paper and some other decorations, like a fossil, the lantern, and, of course, presents.  Behind all of this was a forest tapestry as well!

I'm not sure what kind of dinosaur the fossil is supposed to be, but it still looks amazing!

Another thing that we had was these lanyards.  Ariana was a park ranger and the rest of us were visitors, and while hers was more professional, I got plain lanyards and printed the inserts for everyone else as a more affordable option.  

The breakfast bar was another important thing that we had to set up before Ariana got up, and it included beverages, hash browns, and a pancake bar.  

Ariana loves hashbrowns, so I made sure to ask Mami to get some.  The ones from Trader Joe's are amazing...one of the best!

Instead of a waffle bar we made a pancake bar since Ariana prefers those over waffles.  These are vegan frozen pancakes that Mami got from Whole Foods...

And of course, a pancake bar needs toppings, so here they are!  Hot fudge, caramel sauce, chocolate chips, sliced strawberries, and oat-based whipped topping...all of vegan, as always!  These are the same toppings as the waffle bar that I made for Mother's Day, except for the fudge, and the steps for the caramel sauce are there too!

And while it wasn't part of the breakfast menu, the cake that Mami made was set out for display!  It's a chocolate and mint cake with chocolate fudge on the inside and covered in a store-bough vegan frosting that Mami dyed green!  The chocolate cake recipe is on Vegan Empire, and if you want to add a minty flavor just add a teaspoon of mint extract to the batch!  

Topping off the cake was crushed cookie "dirt" and a raptor figurine that resembled Blue from Jurassic World!

Here's Blue overlooking the party!

Finally, we went to tell Ariana that she was free to come out!

She really liked everything that we made, and after taking a few pictures, we had our breakfast!  I was right about the hash browns, and Ariana had a ton of them!  I loved them too, and the pancake bar was great as well!

And after breakfast, but before opening presents, I gave Ariana the first clue to a scavenger hunt that I'd prepared.  The mission was to find a loose dinosaur, and there was a sort of twist ending when the prize was 2 chicken stuffed animals...modern dinosaurs!  Ariana loves chickens, so this was a great present for her! 

Then came the next activity that I'd prepared...Beat Shazam.  In case you haven't heard of "Beat Shazam", it's a game show hosted by Jamie Foxx where some music is played and you have to guess the title from 4 options.  Well, I prepared it as a Kahoot game, where I was the DJ and Mami and Ariana were contestants!

There were also 2 Short Circuit bonus questions, simply because that's one of Ariana's favorite movies!  She was the winner of the game! 

It wasn't long before Ariana decided that she wanted to open her presents, so of course, that's what we did...

First gift from Mami...

...rocks.  Wanting to be a geologist, these were actually a great gift, especially since they're obsidian...her favorite type.  And yes, she is holding something up in that photo, though it blends in with her shirt! 

Speaking of shirts, here are some that she got as gifts...

But she didn't just get shirts...

The triceratops is from me and the other dino is from Mami!

And this present was from both Mami and I...a waterproof camera, something that Ariana had wanted for a while now!

Then we set out the snack bar, which is where the dino themes come in...

There's these meatless dino-shaped nuggets, but although they were good, I won't be having these again.  The company that makes these specializes in the non-vegan variety, so I was nervous that there may have been a mistake or cross-contamination, so I couldn't fully enjoy them.  The rest of the menu was great though! 

These Dino tracks were vegan cheese & ranch sandwiches simply cut this way with a cookie cutter!  Simple, tasty, and cute!

And there were 2 other snacks that were very simple...as simple as open a bag, pour, and write a label!  

These were dinosaur scales, also known as salt potato chips (from Late July)...

...and T-Rex teeth, which were Bugles.  Their original flavor just so happens to be vegan!

There were also meteorite geos, which I made from my house-famous rice crispy treats!  

Then there were these dino eggs, or cake pops!  

As for beverages, how about some liquid lava (strawberry lemonade) or swamp water (white grape juice dyed green)?  

We watched Jurassic World while we ate, but eventually I had to take a 2-hour nap, as I'd already been away over 24 hours.  This was probably my first time ever taking a nap during the day that wasn't during a car trip, so I really was tired...so much so that I was acting crazier than usual! 

When I woke up Ariana was watching Short Circuit 2, and soon after Daddy came home from work and it was pinata time! 

It's not easy watching your hard work get destroyed, especially taking a whack at it yourself, but it was still really fun and we all enjoyed it!  And, my pinata actually ended up holding together really well, and it's the string that kept coming off, but the pinata itself held together!

But what's a pinata without candy!  There was plenty of these sweet vegan treats, all from Yum Earth!  There were Giggles (equivalent to Skittles), Chewy Fruit Chews (Starburst without the gelatin), lollypops, and jellybeans!  All of it very tasty, but the fruit chews were my favorite! 

I loved my pinata...and Ariana loved her candy (I did too!)

A little banged up but it survived for the most part!

I went on to make dinner...mac & cheese chick'n parmesan, per Ariana's request, and then it was time for cake!  We sung Happy Birthday and Ariana blew out her candles but didn't eat anything...we were too stuffed!

Mami really did a great job making it!

Afterwards we all went off to bed!