Dino party, take two

For Aubrey's fourth birthday, what she wanted, in order, was,

1. a unicorn pillow pet,
2. pink cupcakes, and
   
3. a dinosaur party with friends.

The pillow pet was secured. The cupcakes were frosted. The decorations were hung. We were set. We would have a friend dinosaur party in the morning, then a family celebration later that afternoon with her present and a special meal.

(Side Note #1: For all of my long-time readers, yes, the dinosaur party is a repeat theme. Since we have moved to a new state, I shamelessly reused all the dino decor, though the games were new (and improved!).)


The guests arrived. A slew of Primary friends enjoyed a couple dinosaur books read by Grandpa Keddington. They decorated goody bags. They dug for dino fossils. They emptied the contents of a stegosaurus pinata filled with games and confetti in lieu of candy. They ate dinosaur cupcakes.

(Side Note #2: Note how cranky Aubrey looks in the above picture. She didn't want to share the dino fossils. Perhaps I should have seen coming what happened next.)

Then the children presented Aubrey with gifts.

(Side Note #3: Even if you indicate on the party invitations, "Please no presents, just your presence," guests will inevitably still bring presents. Alas.)


Bella brought nail polish. Aubrey loved it. The Amados+cousins gifted hand-made cards and a Hi Ho Cherry-O game. Also loved. And then Trevin's present was opened. It was a pillow pet, however, it was a panda bear pillow pet. Oh yes, a panda bear. Heaven forbid. The look on Aubrey's face was murderous. How dare he. She morphed from livid to heartbroken in the blink of an eye. Then the meltdown ensued.

Aubrey, as Richard ushered to her room and time out chair: "I don't want a bear pillow pet! Trevin got the wrong one! Tell him he got the wrong one! He needs to go to the store and switch it! I'm so mad! I can't even look at it! It just makes me so mad! It's so feisty!"

Meanwhile, I thanked the guests and helped them move on their merry way.

The meltdown continued for at least another hour, half of which Aubrey spent alone raging against the machine, the other half sobbing uncontrollably to her mommy. I was finally able to settle her down, and she eventually called Trevin to say thank you.

At her family celebration later that day, she opened the unicorn pillow pet. I expected jubilation, however her reaction was simply pleased at best. I guess she had exerted all her excitement already.