My Thoughts

Little Z’s First Birthday Celebrations- Wild One…

I am still very much in denial that my second born has turned 1. ONE whole year! The days leading up to his birthday was a bitter sweet experience, knowing he will never be this little ever again but at the same time looking forward to seeing the kind of man he will eventually grow up to be. I have already written an emotional letter to him on his first birthday, so there’s no need to get soppy yet again.

So the celebrations did in fact begin a day before, with a family dinner at Kitchen 6 restaurant, where we had such a great time. On the day of his birthday itself, we sang Happy Birthday to Little Z, blowing the candle on a home-made biscuit cake I had prepared with some *eagerly available* help from Master Z. The cake was scrumptious, and Little Z squealed in delight at the gifts he received.

When we first started thinking about Little Z’s birthday celebrations months in advance, we were certain we wanted to do something outdoors. We opted to go with the Desert Oasis Petting Farm, having been there once before last winter. The farm is attached to horse stables, and is an adequate space, housing various different animals such as rabbits, emus, goats, ducklings, parrots and also a camel. Their birthday package included being able to feed and pet the animals as well as a horse ride for kids aged above 2 years old. Since the party was set in a farm, I decided to go with a “Wild One” theme, and started designing the invite and all the decor as per this wild life / jungle theme.

At the petting farm, we were given a cosy private indoor space for the cake cutting to take place, as seen above. My husband and I took pride in decorating the space, with all the hand-made decor I had prepared in advance. This included a huge Happy Birthday banner.

The kids really enjoyed feeding the animals, stroking and sometimes shrieking too! The horse riding was definitely one of the highlights, especially for Master Z who was so excited for it, and rode on the horse twice, with the biggest smile on his face. He is still talking about it even now!

Once the kids were tired out, we all went in for the cake cutting and enjoyed the delicious spread of food!

I had handmade all the little personalised details that you see in the following photos, from cupcake toppers to water bottle labels. It sure was time consuming and even repetitive but the “Pinterest Mom” in me couldn’t have been happier. It made the entire affair so much more personal and heartfelt, and brought back memories of me undertaking the same handmade decor project for Master Z’s first birthday.

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For the birthday cake, we ordered a large Chocolate (of course!) cake from our local favourite: Al Mukhtar Bakery. I showed them photos of what I had envisioned, asking them for a simple circular cake with white cream frosting and colourful sprinkles on the side. Once the cake was at the venue, I placed these animal figurines, to which I stuck on mini party hats, to turn them into wild “party animals” and had them as toppers for the cake along with a cute Number 1 candle! I absolutely love the way it turned out! What do you think?

Overall, I am pretty sure all that attended had a great time, regardless if they were kids or adults, and memories were made that will undoubtedly be treasured forever. Little Z was in a great mood throughout (unlike his older brother during his first birthday party celebrations due to teething pain. Poor kid!) and was happily going to all the guests, mainly because they fed him biscuits. He also had a timely nap right after the cake cutting session, meaning I could devour the chocolate birthday cake without any interruption. Hehe! 

Thank you to those that attended Little Z’s Wild One party to mark this special occasion, and I look forward to celebrating many more of Little Z’s birthdays and achievements In sha Allah. 

Note: None of the content mentioned above is sponsored. This party was paid for completely by our family.