I had been planning Brinkley’s 1st Birthday since
the day I got him. Probably before that. There was a blog post about it. He was
going to have a Star Wars themed birthday and him and his friends would dress
up as characters. He, of course, would be Han Solo. There would be Star Wars
themed food. It was going to be great.
Well, that didn’t work out.
It turns out that dogs probably don’t want to wear costumes
when it’s Texas Summer. It also turns out that coming up with an elaborate themed
menu for lots of people probably wouldn’t work with a girl on a very tight budget. So that
plan was scratched.
Instead, Brinkley had a Luau. My mom and I came up with this
plan when digging through my dress up stash I had while growing up. While going
through it, we put the dogs in ensembles. Beau was more into it than Brinkley.
Proof:
Both Brinkley and Beau seemed to enjoy the Leis so the Luau
it was. We didn’t roast a pig but we DID have hot dogs. I headed to the dollar
store to pick up some more leis for all the dogs. They only had packs that had
leis for the neck, ankles and head. That actually worked out since Roxie’s neck
is the size of an ankle. While there, I grabbed a pack of party hats with the
hope to get some hilarious pictures.
The party was at my parents house. They have a pool and
Brinkley’s absolute most favorite thing to do is swim. He doesn’t even have to
be fetching anything. He will just swim in circles. He does love to play fetch
with pool noodles though, even if that’s not your intention. You can just be
relaxing on one and he will immediately take it from you. It’s probably best
for you to not look relaxed at all in the pool. If you looked relax it’s
probably because you are floating. There is no floating when Brinkley’s in the
pool. He thinks floating is drowning and he will swim after you, grab your
wrist and drag you back to the steps. In fact, it’s probably just best if you
just stand in waist deep. That’s your only guarantee that you won’t get
“saved”.
Brinkley swam for hours on his birthday. The party started
at 5 but just like a little kid, he wanted it to start early so he grabbed his
Lady and they began swimming. His 4 doggie friends joined around 5. None of
them particularly enjoyed the pool, but their parentals sure did enjoy making
them try.
After swimming, the humans and pups both ate. The dogs
enjoyed cupcakes made with yogurt frostings and Brinkley’s favorite food,
bacon, as the topping. The doggy cupcake
part of the party lasted a whole 30 seconds.
The last part of the party was presents. My mom and I had
picked up a few toys for Brink but I had NO idea that everyone else would have
the same plan. At first Brinkley wasn’t so into the whole opening presents
thing. He was afraid of the tissue paper. Seriously, I wish I was joking. When
he realized that bones, chew toys, and Frisbees were underneath the tissue
paper he manned up.
The dog has never had so many toys in his life. And the best
part is it seems like he wants them all to be sure that they are equally loved.
I will throw the fake branch and he will come back with the cookie Frisbee. I
will throw the cookie Frisbee he will bring back the water bottle cow. I’ll
throw the water bottle cow and he will bring back the green dog.
It probably seems insane to throw a birthday party for a
dog. It might be. But anyone who is a true dog lover knows the happiness a dog
can bring to their life. To see something get so excited to see you after a
long day can’t help but put a smile on your face. If having a birthday party
for your dog to pay them back for being the most loyal living thing in your
life is crazy, I’m okay with being crazy.
More photos of the fun:
