Yes we had a birthday party for the dogs

Last year the queen was celebrating her diamond jubilee, so we decided to help her.  The jubilee dates coincided with the arbitrarily chosen date for Dilly's birthday party so Dilly shared her birthday with the queen.

Moneycannon Sandy Bubble

Not so this year.  This year was special.  Our girl was turning 10!  And, apparently in labrador years, that is 75.  This milestone had to be marked.

Now if you think that it is a touch excessive over the top eccentric weird to celebrate your dog's birthday, well I don't much care.  I know it is and I still don't care.  You see, Dilly came along in the 5th  of the bleak dry wilderness infertility years when I needed something to mother and she rescued me.  

You know the way new mummies, especially first time mummies, get obsessed with checking their baby's weight and how much they've grown...

...well not only did I do it for Dilly, I also recorded it in her puppy book (which also contains one of her baby teeth)

But look, she was a beautiful baby.

Jenny whispered to Dilly "I wish you were my puppy and I was your mummy"

When Shirley asked Joanna "what is you favourite animal?" The reply was of course "a puppy, a brown puppy"

Well, just after Dilly's first birthday party, along came Doug.  Then two years after that (yes during the summer we had just got our extension and were puppy sitting Buddy) along came Beans.

Castlewellan 2006

He too was a beautiful baby...

This is Beans with some of his brothers and sisters...and no, I'm not sure which one he is either!

Miss Mels and Beans.

Then, two years later, along came Bea who also rescued me (from fully transforming into the mad dog lady).

With all of this as a background, it goes without saying that Dilly and Beans are pretty special and a significant part of our family.

And yes it is a slightly crazy family

So, one Sunday morning, Bea and I set about making invitations for a pawty to celebrate both Dilly and Beans's birthdays.  (Their actual birth dates are a week apart, so we choose a Sunday in between)

Then Bea had to make a family of dogs for herself.

Finally, the day of the party dawned.  As we strung bunting in the back garden, Bea worried that we did not have enough party games, so she made a "pin the tale on the doggy" game.

Then the guests arrived.  

At this point it is appropriate to state that we do have the best friends who appreciate the fact that the dog's birthday is really only an excuse for a get together while simultaneously embracing the insanity....

To prove a point...here is Beth with a present for Dilly.  Look, it is gift wrapped.  The red gift wrapping was for Dilly and Max brought a blue gift for Beans.  See embracing the insanity.

Enjoying bones from team Scarlett...

Even though some members of team Scarlett were a little unsure of the giant dogs.

(At this juncture, Dilly and Beans would like to sincerely thank the Gastons and the Nesbitts for their gifts too...they are were greatly appreciated if unphotographed)

Birthday girl

Birthday boy

So we had a lovely barbecue with friends.  

We also played some games.

There was pass the parcel.  Which Dilly joined in.

Even pass the parcel can't distract Dill from the opportunity to give someone a lick.

 Beans on the other hand did not join in pass the parcel, or any of the other games.  Husband had taken him out the day before and broken him.  

Joshua was the winner of the pass the parcel.  I'm not sure how he felt about the prize, which was a bag of dog treats. It was a dog's party after all, but we did give him a bag of sweets too.

But please, do not worry about Beans; he was only temporarily disabled.  But husband discovered the new mountain bike trails at Castlewellan which he and Beans cycled / ran along.  Beans had the best day ever!!!!  He was running AND he was with husband.  However, when he returned home, he discovered that he is an elderly 7 year old and his muscles all stiffened.  Thus on Sunday, he could barely move.  I'll be honest, the big fella was so exhausted he could barely lift his head...making Dilly look like the sprightly, youthful one.  After about 3 days, normal service had been resumed, but perhaps we will limit his mountain biking to the Cave Hill in future.

You can spot Beans...he's the flat one

Then we played other games... which included obstacle races and dressing up.

So we enjoyed a barbecue and then it was time for birthday cake...

Dilly's cake has her bounding off to the woods, while Beans has BNZ in Smarties on the top (just not enough room or smarties for any vowels)

So we lit the candles and sang "Happy Birthday" to the dogs, because there were a lot of little people who like blowing out candles.