Dino Dig - Modified

On Saturday we hosted a Dino Dig to celebrate the boys' birthdays. I had planned for it to be an outdoor party. Upon arrival each child was going to receive a bucket with a shovel and a brush. We had buried dinosaur fossils in the sand for them to excavate. We also had planned a dinosaur egg hunt & made footprint stencils for them to color with chalk. The days leading up to the party were spent making decorations and that morning we rushed to set everything up.

Dinosaur foot prints leading the way to the party

Clothes line turned dino banner and lunch area

About fifteen minutes before the party was scheduled to start we realized it was definitely going rain so we rushed to move everything inside or to the front porch.

 Then just as guests began to arrive it started to rain STORM.

Dino footprints washing away

Jeremy and his dad ready to escort guests inside

I was extremely thankful that we had decided to move everything before the party started. I wish I could say I had a 100% positive attitude about the whole thing, but I didn't. I was sad that the vision in my head wasn't going to come to fruition. But despite the rain, all our guests made it, the party happened, eggs where hidden inside, and dinosaurs were excavated under the protection of the front porch.

Some kids were more excited about the sand than the dinosaurs

And most importantly there was still the cake...

                                     
I'd say the party was a success. The boys and their friends throughly enjoyed themselves, and I learned some important lessons. First that decorations, activities, etc. can be a lot of fun, but they are not what makes a party great, it's friends. Especially friends who will venture out a in thunderstorm to help you celebrate. Secondly, if you put sand tables on your front porch and then hand a dozen children buckets and shovels you are asking for a big mess.