Before I started planning Keaton’s 2nd party, I knew I had to tone it down a little, since Ryan would only be a month old, and my C-section wounds wouldn’t be up for any extreme birthday crafting. I decided to have the party off-site (to save me from the hours of clean-up) at the Santa Ana Zoo. It was pretty affordable. Adult were around $8 per person and kids under the age of 3 were free. We had visited the zoo multiple times so I had scoped out all the party areas and had a specific one in mind. It was shady and somewhat secluded (which I liked, bc I didn’t want zoo trespassers crashing our party).

The zoo theme was fun and easy to plan. A party isn’t a party without some kind of themed hat to wear, so I ordered some zoo keeper/safari hats (and added a custom “Keaton’s Birthday”  sticker for flare). The kids always love hats and it always makes for great pictures.

I wanted to do some kind of snack table and since Keaton LOVES donuts,  I thought why not have a donut bar? DK Donuts in Tustin always has very colorful and kid desired looking donuts so I placed an order for 4 dozen donuts and called it a day. Not only was it cost effective but it ended up being super cute and all the kids (and some adults) went apes over it. I put some carafes filled with regular and chocolate milk on ice and added some crazy colorful straws. I also made tiny bags of cookies with dip to take home later (which were basically just animal crackers and frosting which I put in tiny to-go cups and sprinkled with colorful sprinkles). I was also lucky enough to find a big ape in the clearance section of Toys R Us for $15 – I just couldn’t pass him up and as you can see below, he really added to the appeal.

The zoo party package included renting the actual party space, admission AND enough tickets for everyone to ride both the carousel and the train. Unfortunately the carousel was closed, but the kids didn’t seem to notice. There’s a huge play area for the kids to play in and a lot of other extra things to climb on and explore like a broken down safari jeep which Keaton and Gavin played in for a good amount of time.

I also made “Adopt a Monkey” baskets for the kids to take home with them. I twist-tied the monkeys to the baskets (which I found on clearance after Easter and paid $0.25 for each one!) and gave them names. At the bottom of the basket I included a small blanket (made out of felt) and a bag of monkey food (which was just a package of Runts).

I had everyone eat when they first arrived (since we only had the party space for two hours). Then everyone kind of branched off and did their own thing.  I totally FAILED though and forgot to get everyone to sing Happy Birthday to Keaton, but he’s so little he didn’t notice.

Overall the party was a success. The only obstacle we ran into was transporting all the party supplies. We ended up renting a big yellow wagon (pictured below) for $10. It was helpful and the kids enjoyed riding around in it. Lots of smiles, perfect weather and a very happy birthday boy. Can’t wait for next years celebration.