R's 1st birthday @ Ark Avilon Zoo

I just love events. If only I had the guts, I'd really make a move to shift into this field. Isip isip hehe.
From planning our wedding, to my babies' baptisms, first birthday ata ang isa sa pinaka exciting yet stressful moments in a woman's/mom's life hehe.

Since it's September, I'd like to share snippets of R's 1st birthday.

First of all before planning, we thought of what we would like us and the guests to experience. Then everything else followed. Daddy A and I both wanted something unique and unforgettable. I browsed the net for ideas and venues that held interesting activities. Then pak! I stumbled upon Ark Avilon Zoo.

Theme: Jungle safari
So with that as our peg, we trooped over to Ark Avilon Zoo and checked out their party package.

Venue/Decors: Ark Avilon Zoo
What's nice with their party package is that you having nothing else to think about except show up. Yes as in! From decors, catering, cake, loot bags, entertainment, food carts, photo coverage w/ album, all in na! God sent talaga for working parents like us. What's more, the venue is located in the heart of the metro. No hassle for our guests and they would surely have a good time with the zoo tour and live animal interaction. See party packages here.

Caterer: Verleo
Like I said they have an in house caterer already - Verleo. I could say the food was great and was enough to cover our almost 100 guests. They have a kiddie pack menu and buffet for the adults. We chose the Filipino buffet.

Invites: DIY plus printed envelope from Ark Avilon Zoo
As part of their package, they provided us zebra/leopard printed folding envelopes where you could insert your invites. Here is the layout I came up with:

Loot bag: DIY plus loot bag of Ark Avilon Zoo
For the loot "bag" itself, Mama took care of the leopard print eco bags and we just inserted the goodie bag from Ark Avilon. In fairness the goodie bag was packed with lots of items. Each had a stuffed animal, inflatable macau, finger puppet, headband for girls, bandana for boys, bracelet, and what have yous. Quality items talaga.

Prizes: Divisoria
Mama got jungle related prizes such as animal coin purses, pencil cases, pencils, safari cars etc. For adult games, I just bought some imported chips and cookies.

Outfits: SM
Would you believe all our outfits were just found in SM (except for R's 2nd outfit - leopard print top, which was care of my Mama's patahian)? Daddy A found this mala Kuya Kim shirt from Penshoppe and cargo shorts from SM Surplus shop. His hat was from Divisoria though. I on the other hand found this jumpsuit from the department store, un nga lang gusto nila ko ikulong kasama ng leopard during the party hehe. We got R's safari get up from Moose Girl.

Entertainment/photo coverage: Host, Glitter tattoo, zoo tour all from Ark Avilon Zoo
I was really happy with the tour and our host, he really brought out the excitement in our guests. Feel na feel namin like we were in an African safari. And naturally, isa kong malaking duwag, napahiyaw when we got to feed some piranha like fishes in the pond. See more of the fun in the pictures and video below.

Video coverage: Marsian Recording Studio
The initial videographer we booked unfortunately died of stroke just a few weeks before R's birthday. Sad and stressful. Good thing I was able to book Marvin Rosello. I liked his coverage style, high definition, may cinematography and the background music was very appropriate. For contact details, please check here.

Without further ado, here are some snap shots of the party:

Here's the DIY AVP video I made, which was shown during the party:

And here's R's first birthday video by Marvin Rosello of Marsian Recording Studio:

Hope you all had fun too. Happy birthday R!

Weekend activities and places to go with the kids

It's another wonderful weekend after a tiring work week. What better way to spend it than with the family. Like I said in my previous post, weekends are sacred for me. I made a vow when I started my own family that my weekends will be entirely devoted to them. So what exactly do we do during these days?

Well our regular schedule for Saturdays would be:

1. Kisses, snuggles and cuddles when we wake up;
2. Breakfast together;
3. Kindermusik classes with R (I'll write about this in another post);
4. and we do any of the following activities:

Walking the dogs

Swimming in the garage

Art projects (like finger painting, stamping)

Cooking/Baking

Groceries

See it doesn't have to be expensive. These bonding moments are practically free, could be done in the comforts of your own home and you don't even have to drive far.

On Sundays naman, here's our sched:

1. Kisses, snuggles and cuddles when we wake up;
2. Breakfast together;
3. Mass;
4. Lunch at Lolo and Lola's house;
5. and in the afternoon we usually go malling or to any of these places:

Museums: The Mind Museum, Museo Pambata, Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center

Play areas in the malls: David's Playhouse, Kidzville, Gymboree, Active Fun, Timezone, Tom's World

Zoo: Ark Avilon Zoo (this was taken during R's 1st birthday celebration)

Theme parks: Manila Ocean Park, Star City, Fun Ranch, Enchanted Kingdom

Watch out for individual posts on the aforementioned places we went to. For these places you may have to shell out some cash, which I believe is still reasonable and within budget. Besides, the experience, discoveries and learnings your kids will pick up from these activities are truly priceless.