A Very Buggy Birthday!

The birthday parties that my mom planned for me remain some of my fondest childhood memories.  I LOVE planning unique and fun birthday parties for my kids and hope that they, too, will one day remember these special celebrations with the same fondness I do my own childhood parties.

This year, we celebrated Noah's 5th Birthday with a 

Very Buggy Birthday celebration!

The Birthday Bug and his Sister Bug were beyond excited for the party to begin...

Noah greeted each guest with a set of Bug Antennae (although he would not wear them himself because they were "too uncomfortable"!) and a Bug Hunting Neck Sack.

The "Party Bugs" were then escorted to the basement where the Birthday Decor and BUGS were sitting and hanging and hiding...

The party started with some fun games!

First up...

Pin the Spot on the Ladybug

(using licked Oreo cookies!)

Next up...

The Bumble Bee Bounce

Each time a party bug got their bumblebee to bounce into one of the honeycombs, they got to pull out a buggy prize from inside the honeycomb!  We did this lots and lots and lots and lots of times!

Next up...

Flyswatter Races

Party bugs raced while trying to keep a fly perched atop a flyswatter!

Next up...

The Ladybug Pinata!

And the Grand Game Finale...

The Bug Hunt!

There were over 150 bugs hiding in the basement just waiting to be found by the party bugs!  And they had enormous amounts of fun trying to find all of the hidden creatures!

With neck sacks full of candy, bugs, and other fun prizes, the party bugs sat down for some cake and ice cream... rather cookies and dirt cake!  Of course, there were bugs everywhere... even on their plates, spoons, and juice boxes!

The dirt cake was the inspiration for the entire party theme!  My grandma used to make what she coined "Kansas Dirt Cake" for me as a child and I adored it!  It is 100% pure sugar and the whimsy of adding the "dirt" made her "famous" concoction my favorite dessert.


As I was telling Noah about it, I told him we could make it for his birthday and put bugs on top of it... and that was when we decided on the bug theme for the party!

The kids each had their own "cup of dirt", complete with an authentic looking gummy bug on top!  And just in case the "dirt" scared them, there were cookies with "cute bugs" too!

The "dirt" was a hit... after the initial "ewww" wore off!  And Miss Emmie Kate... she was the only child to finish off her ENTIRE cup of dirt!  The poor child has most definitely inherited her Mama's sweet tooth!

With full bellies, everyone headed to the...

Ladybug Lesson!

I looked up some information about ladybugs and played "question and answer" with the party bugs while they had the chance to look at the jar filled with 1500 live ladybugs!


With the exception one little party bug who was "freaked out" by the ladybugs, the kids all seemed to enjoy it... they especially liked learning that ladybugs "play dead" when they feel they are in danger!


With that, Noah handed out the "goody buckets"...

The "goody buckets" were filled with buggy surprises including stickers, tatoos, a "boo boo freezer pack" with bugs on it, bug finger puppets, a spider sucker, gummy bugs...

...with the highlight being a magnifying bug jar with live ladybugs inside!

And that completed our

Very Buggy Birthday Celebration!

Happy 5th Birthday, 
my sweet Birthday Bug!