Birthday Critters

It was our turn to be in charge of my family's reunion this year, which ended up being way more stressful than I thought it would be.  There were of course several reasons for this, but one was that because of family and business matters I ended up cramming a big project into less than two weeks.  I was up into the wee hours of the morning every night.  But this was something I had had in mind for a long time, and it was really important to me, so I pushed on. In the end I was really glad I did.

I told the kids that we were going to celebrate all their birthdays. (We kind of tend to mostly celebrate the June birthdays because there are a lot of them.) My "speech" didn't come out very pretty—I blame it on sleep deprivation—but I got the point across and we began the fun.

I put the gifts in a giant pull pinata wrapped as a present.  Instead of taking turns whacking at the pinata, the kids took turns trying to find the string that would open the secret trap door.  The odds are much more even this way, but the suspense is still there. p.s. I got the idea here.

 

 

And suddenly it was open! Little critters fell out and the mad rush began.  Then the kids realized that there was a name tag attached to each one.  I had asked my sisters to find out what all the kids' favorite animal was so I could crochet a toy for everyone, so I wanted to make sure the animals found their proper homes

 And here I am with all my nieces and nephews.  And Diane. ;)

 It was so fun to see them enjoying their presents!

 And now for a closer look at the presents themselves.

 

 

Do you have a favorite?