Sophie turned 10 this year, and we celebrated with a party at the Zurich Zoo. Since I didn’t need to do anything for the actual party but show up with the girls at the right time, I went all out on the invitations and goodie bags. The invites were super fun to make. When the kids pulled them out of the envelopes, it looked mostly like this.
There was a zebra as well, but it fell off by the time I got around to taking this picture 2 months later! Anyway, then they pulled it open by grasping on the two sides, so they could read the information for the party.
Since the zoo tour started right at 2 in downtown Zurich, I had everyone come to our house straight after school. So the school bus turned into the party bus! 🙂 Sophie’s choice for lunch was raclette! Normally eaten in the cooler winter months, it was still a big hit with the kids.
When we had finished our lunch, I left Nick in charge of the youngest two and we were off to the zoo. Since I would be dropping off the kids directly at home after the party, we handed out their goodie bags now. 
I could have spent even more time shading all the animals with ink, but come on! I am not THAT crazy. heehee
Inside there two small stuffed animals and animal lollipops for each girl. We ordered them from Amazon and my friend Julie brought them back for me. So nice!
At the zoo, we were lucky and find a great spot right by the entrance. One of the girls threw up on the grass near the curb as soon as she got out of the car. I guess she got very car sick with all the twists and turns and the heavy lunch. But as soon as she did, she felt better and was ready to party. Whew!
There were two guides waiting for us right at the entrance, and they brought us to a corner table in the restaurant where each girl was given a zoo hat to decorate and a name tag.
They had the girls put the name tags on the visors so they could easily see who was who. Pretty clever! When I registered for the party, they asked me what Sophie’s top three animals were. On the tour, we made sure to visit those animals, and they had lots of interesting facts to tell the kids about them. We also stopped along the way to see some other animals.
It seemed like all the animals knew it was Sophie’s birthday, because they were easily visible and many put on a little show for us!
One of the animals Sophie picked was the otter. They were asleep, as they are mostly nocturnal, but at least one was lying in such a way that we got to see his adorable belly button!
There was also an otter fur that the girls could touch, but Sarah wasn’t interested at all. That kind of thing completely creeps her out, and Sophie only touched it with a fingertip. They can’t get the past that it used to be attached to a living thing, and now isn’t, regardless of the circumstances of its death.
Notice the two little girls wearing orange reflectors and no hats? Yeah, they didn’t belong to our group but joined in anyway, when they heard the guides talking. They also loved petting the otter fur. As we walked away, one of the guides told me that had never lost a child that was part of a party group, but they often had extras! 🙂 One time they got to the party room where the cake is served and there was one child without a hat. They immediately knew something was up and had to call security. Not to arrest her, just to help deliver her to her frantic mother who hadn’t been able to find her for over half an hour! So now they check for official party hats after every animal.
We also made a stop in the ape house. There were two baby gorillas to be adored, ages one month and two weeks. We got great views, despite the crowds. 
We didn’t want to leave, but the rest of the tour was calling. Next stop, the dwarf otters! 
These guys put on an awesome show for Sophie. They were running across the rocks, diving into the water, swimming past the glass while doing all kinds of flips, and then they would hop back out, and chase each other across the rocks all over again. So hilarious!
Occasionally we would stop along the trail and they would give us some random bit of information. 
It was always very interesting, and the guides were great with the kids. I would highly recommend this birthday party to anyone.
Eventually we made it to the party room, just a bit behind schedule. 🙂 It was all decked out festively, and the presents I had handed off at the beginning of the tour were all laid out as well.
At registration time you could choose either a chocolate or lemon cake. Sophie chose lemon. Blow. Sophie, blow!
The guides were great, doing absolutely everything. At one point, I got up from the comfy sofa to pour the kids drinks and they made me sit back down and refilled my drink instead! Now that’s the way to enjoy a kid’s birthday party!
After the cake, it was present time.
We improvised and used a coke bottle as the spinner. 
Sophie’s favorite presents would have to be the gift cards she received. One was for a local department store and one was for the Zoo gift shop! So fun to be able to choose whatever you want and pay for it with your own “magic money card”, which is what I call my debit card.
After presents the girls got to make a little craft. They each chose an animal picture and colored it with provided colored pencils. 
Then they got to turn those pictures into pins/buttons. 
After that, we piled in the car and headed home. It was rush hour, so it was slow going through the city. Fortunately 7 little girls are never short of ways to entertain themselves. Their favorite game was to open the windows and wave and say hi to all the people sitting at the cafes, in the neighboring cars, and anyone walking along the sidewalk.
There were lots of laughter and shrieks of excitement when someone would smile and wave back. The best was the man at the cafe who struck up a conversation with them. 🙂 I smiled and waved my appreciation as the light finally turned green and we were able to drive away.
When we were finally back home, we had quick dinner and then it was time to open more presents! Sophie always makes a birthday crown for every birthday kid in our family, so Noah made her a crown and royal scepter.
Alexandra made her a necklace.
And when we went to Legoland, I picked up a little something for her as well. 
That’s just the kind of big smile every parent wants to see on their birthday kid’s face. Love you, Sophie! Happy birthday to the sweet filling in our Oreo cookie!