Braelynn’s 5th Birthday | PAW Patrol Party

In case you don’t know Braelynn personally, allow me to introduce you!

This is Braelynn – our sweet, golden-haired princess who is simply obsessed with all-things PAW Patrol.

We have been talking about Braelynn’s 5th birthday party since the day after her 4th birthday party. We had so much fun at that party (and set the bar just a little bit too high) that as soon as that party was over, she was already brainstorming & looking forward to the next one. Over the course of the last year, she planned out several differently themed parties (most centered around TV shows & movies of course): Clifford, Frozen, Disney Princesses, & Pete the Cat.

Around early summer of last year, she discovered the PAW Patrol and slowly her obsession with these adorable, save-the-day, rescue pups grew. Let’s be honest: they are so loveable, how would one not love these pups? What made the PAW Patrol even more enticing was that there is PAW Patrol merchandise everywhere. Apparently everyone loves the PAW Patrol! When we hosted her Daniel Tiger themed 2nd birthday party, it was so hard to find Danielle Tiger anything (now, it’s a little bit easier, but the amount of Daniel Tiger merch is still pretty limited – especially when you compare the 5 Daniel Tiger items at Target vs. the entire aisle that is dedicated to the PAW Patrol!)

So, thankfully, this was an easy party to throw. She already has all of the figures & most of their vehicles – I found these amazing banners at a consignment shop (at the Lake actually) over the summer & instantly scooped them up (for a whole $3). My sister Ruby came over the day before the party to help me create the “dog bone” cake – it was easy & a lot of fun. (Does it quite meet the ridiculously high standard of last year’s Rapunzel party? Probably not, but it was still a lot of fun!)

The cherry on the top of this party was that we had a piñata! My Mom actually found a piñata super clearanced down a few months ago & she bought it – it was a brightly colored horse, but she could see the potential! I ripped all of those bright, primary colors off, and replaced them with browns & blues & blacks (plus a hat) to create Chase – the police dog! He still kind of looked like a horse, but for something that a bunch of kiddos were going to beat to a pulp, I was super happy with how he turned out!

Once again, we packed out our house: we rearranged our living room & filled every single space with extra chairs. People sat on the steps & in the dining room – I won’t lie: I really love packing everyone into our house. I know it’s insane & absolute chaos, but I love it. With the next round of birthdays, we might have to invite people in shifts (we are adding at least 3 more people to our invitation list in 2020 with 2 new babies & my sister getting married – but, we’ll tackle that problem in November when we’re planning Leander’s 2nd birthday – it’s still quite a way off!)

So, here is a little glimpse into what our house looked like 10 days ago.

We opted to do the piñata first, to kick off the party!

Do you see this mountain of presents she was sitting in? Omigoodness, so many gifts!!

Of course, she had no trouble at all tearing right thru that mountain.

Leander was just a smidge confused as to why there were no presents for him.

Braelynn received so many amazing, wonderful, thoughtful gifts – but her absolute favorite were the new “stuffies” she got – a Rocky, a Skye, and a penguin.

Last year, Braelynn’s “big gift” from Mommy & Daddy was a kitchen set (which is still in our living room & played with daily). This year, her “big gift” was a massive PAW Patrol Lookout Tower! This thing is bigger than Leander & obviously – she loves it!

Turning 5 is a big deal. Just inviting family members over for a party doesn’t quite cut it any more – Braelynn now has friends she wants to invite too (where did my little baby go?) Thankfully, most of her friends are also cousins (so that helps with the overflowing-house-problem), but we also had Moxie, the little girl who lives next door come to the party. So, of course I had to snag a photo of my girl with her best friends – she loves every single one of these girls so much & I am so thankful for this little group of friends that Braelynn has!