Scales and Tails

Yesterday we threw Brad the coolest birthday party on the planet.  He had about 12 friends come over and we played games and ate cupcakes and then we had a show put on by Scales and Tails Utah.  Shane Richins brought 7 of his closest reptilian friends to our house and taught the kids all about the scaly creatures.  He was really quite funny and the kids just loved him. 

  The tissue balls are a Martha Stewart project you can find here.

  I used spray-on food coloring I got at Wal-Mart and a star stencil I just printed off the internet to do the cupcakes.

  Brad’s friends were very generous and he got some really great gifts. 

We told him this year he had to choose between presents from Mom & Dad or a party and he chose the party.  I’m pretty sure he came out ahead.

When Shane got there he set up a back-drop and a little stage area.  He made Brad an integral part of the show, having him help introduce each of the animals.  Brad was nervous at first, but got more brave with each new one.  This was a Pancake Tortoise named, Shortstack.

This guy was a red-footed tortoise named, Fuzzy Wuzzy (who wasn’t fuzzy, was he?).  He weighed a lot.

He also brought an alligator scull and talked to the kids about how to tell the difference between a crocodile and an alligator, and that both of them make very bad pets.

This lizard looked a little scary with his pointy horns, but he was very tame, even letting Shane tap on his nose without snapping at him.

 

Shane had Brad dress up in snake wrangler gear before getting out the milk snake.  At first Brad wasn’t too sure about the snake…

…but then he decided it was ok.

Which was good because then Shane brought out Naners – a 13 foot albino python.  Brad, Corbin and Kennedy were the only ones who wanted to get close to her when she first came out.  But Brad got REALLY comfortable with her!

And then everyone got a chance to get up close and personal with the animals.

     Lucy wasn’t a bit afraid

And I even got in on some of the action.

It was really a great party and even the kids who didn’t want to touch the snakes still had a fun time.  I will admit I may have gone a little overboard on the party, but I think I had as much fun as the kids.  It was time and money well spent.