Well, I think I officially no longer have a baby. My little sweetheart Graham turned three years old this past weekend. We love to celebrate birthdays in our family and when I asked Graham what he wanted to do for his party I was not surprised at all when he replied, “dinosaurs (pause) and donuts,” and just like that, possibly the best theme for a three-year old’s birthday party was born. I wish I could claim the credit, but this was all Graham. The boy loves dinosaurs and donuts!
To create this perfect and simple party, I booked a morning party at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (aka the Dinosaur Museum, according to Graham) and ordered several dozen donuts (and donut holes) from the one and only River Oaks Donuts (aka the BEST donuts in Houston, according to me). We also picked up a small chocolate cake from Whole Foods and some organic orange juice and mixed fruit to round out the breakfast buffet. I have some gorgeous birthday bunting that was made on Etsy a couple years ago and the ‘Graham’ sign worked perfectly for his cake and donut tower. (I’m glad I have this photo of the cake with the Graham sign. I unfortunately lit the candle in the middle too close to the H and poof! We had ourselves quite a flame atop the cake. Whoops!)
The format of the two-hour birthday party at the Museum is perfect. We had our own classroom dedicated to our party and so much was already set up when we arrived, including all of the table clothes, custom dino and donut coloring sheets, and a darling personalized chalk Happy Birthday message. After our guests arrived and snacked on the deliciousness of River Oaks Donuts and fruit, the kiddos did a hands-on project. They dug through sand pits to find a dinosaur “fossil” which was turned into a necklace for them to keep. The kids loved it. Simple and fun. After we sang Happy Birthday to our sweet Graham (and put out the aforementioned fire), we all lined up to take a guided tour of the Hall of Paleontology. Since Graham and his friends are mostly three-year old little boys, the attention span wasn’t super long, but the guide did a great job showing them some special fossils and telling them cool facts about the dinosaurs. As soon as the short tour ended, everyone was free to go and explore the museum for as long as they wanted. It’s a great flow for parents with little kids. We were never in one spot for too long, and the kids were entertained the entire time. Thanks to the birthday party team at the Houston Museum of Natural Science for a wonderful day.
You can’t have a birthday party with little kids, food, and public museum without hand sanitizer. If you’ve known me for any length of time you probably know I’m a germ-a-phobe and have hand sanitizer on me at all times. For Graham’s party, we used hand sanitizer gel packs from b4. I first learned about b4 through my work with Houston Children Give Back. Besides being an instant fan of the eco-friendly germ killer, I learned that b4 is committed to giving 50% of their profits from the sale of their products to children-focused causes through The Midway Foundation, which has already donated more than $1.2 million to 150 organizations since its inception. I’m such a fan of the products and the company that I wanted to find a time to feature them on Luxe and knew Graham’s birthday party was the perfect forum to share the product with all of our guests. I set out the b4 all around the party room and some tucked into the goodie bags along with toy dinosaurs, dino tattoos, and dinosaur silly bands.
See that picture below? In addition to larger pump bottles, b4 comes in cute colored gel packs that are portioned for a one-time use. They are perfect for all of our on-the-go family activities and I love that I don’t have to lug around a big bottle of sanitizer or worry that a bottle will open up in my purse. To learn more about b4 products, including to find a retailer near you, be sure to check out their website. This is a company and a product you want to support! Thanks to b4 for sharing the product – it was a great hit with the kiddos and the moms!
Thank you to Graham’s little friends and their parents for joining us on our little guy’s big day. As my husband mentioned at the party, this was our very first birthday to celebrate living in Houston. We’re so lucky to live in this awesome city and have already met such generous and wonderful friends. We are truly blessed beyond words.
Author: Candace Thomas
Leave a Reply