My daughter and son have birthdays a day apart. While it is convenient for us to have one "double" party, it's difficult to find a theme that fits a girl and a boy who are 3 years apart. This year for their 5th and 2nd birthdays, we are having a party at the local zoo. I was excited to see that the zoo provides the cake, paper goods, and goody bags, but I wanted to personalize it as well. The first step was to forego the zoo's preprinted invitations and create our own. I purchased animal temporary tattoos (from Oriental Trading), blank white note cards, and yarn. On the front fold of the note cards, I taped a tattoo. Then I punched 5 holes across the top of the note card (by the fold) and 5 holes along the bottom edge of the card. My daughter then took the yarn and threaded it through the holes to create the bars - it looked like the animals were in cages! When you open the card, the invitation reads "There's a party going on at the Nashville Zoo / As Emily turns 5 and Connor turns 2 / There's lots to see and lots to do / So please make plans to join us too!" with the date and time printed beneath. We also put a note on the top part of the card (where the back ends of the yarn are) for the kids to wear their temporary tattoos to the party. For the families that have more than one child, we included more than one animal tattoo in the cage on the front of the card. The zoo gives us two hours in the "party room" with a private animal presentation, so there is already a lot going on, but we knew we'd have some staggered arrivals, so we are placing animal masks and crayons sitting on the tables (Oriental Trading) that the kids can color as they arrive. We also ordered a box of assorted Ty beanie babies on eBay - we were able to get a nice assortment of animals for less than $1 apiece - for a beanbag toss. The children take home the beanies - a nice supplement to the goody bags provided by the zoo. The zoo also provides a cake and drinks, but we have additional "zoo" food: assorted sandwiches cut in shapes with animal cookie cutters, "stuffed" teddy grahams (chocolate teddy grahams with peanut butter sandwiched in between and regular teddy grahams with cream cheese), peanuts, fresh fruit & veggies plate, and cheetos. After the party room, the kids are able to play on the huge playground at the zoo and visit the animal exhibits. For a final activity/keepsake we made picture frames out of cardstock ahead of time; the kids each receive a frame and a sheet of zoo stickers (Oriental Trading). As they walk around the zoo, they place the stickers of the animals that they see onto the edges of the frame. With the thank you notes we will send a picture of the kids at the zoo that can be put in the frame for a nice memento of Emily & Connor's birthday party!