A couple weeks ago the kids and I took the train into NYC to celebrate a special birthday with some old friends – the Cabbage Patch Kids turn 30 this year and boy do they know how to celebrate!

The same people who organized the amazing Playdate in the City last fall threw this party too, so my hopes were pretty high – and absolutely exceeded. It doesn’t happen very often, but this is the kind of thing that makes being a blogger seem like a super cool job.

The party was at the Eventi Hotel, which was a few blocks from Grand Central Station. I was lucky my friend Sarah was going too, since she was smart enough to look up walking directions BEFORE showing up in NYC. Plus she had her daughter Avery with her, and my kids looooove “Baby Avery”.

Caroline might be the only 2 year old who LOVES people dressed as giant characters.

The party had an adoption station where each child got to pick out a Cabbage Patch Kid that the “nurses” opened up for them to start loving right away. Then there were stations where you could listen to a story about where the Kids come from, learn how to change their diapers, get a Cabbage Patch makeover, rename your baby (Each CPK comes with a unique name and birth certificate but we had new ones printed with the names Caroline and Evan chose – Peanut and Emme), take the Oath of Adoption (Caroline doing the Oath might have been the cutest thing ever), and other fun stuff.

I MIGHT have strongly steered Caroline towards the red-headed Kid, but it wasn’t exactly hard. “That looks like me!” she said. Why, I didn’t even notice! (I totally noticed.) There were also boy Kids, but Evan chose a blond girl and insisted that was HIS baby so I couldn’t argue.

“Peanut” came with a bowl and food, so Caroline spent the rest of the party force-feeding her.

Diapering her baby. Even the “nurse” thought it was adorable.

Of course, what would a party be without food – and cupcakes?! Caroline was thrilled that scrambled eggs were on the brunch menu, since she ate two giant plates full of them. Evan ate bagels and “cupcakes”, which were actually corn muffins, until he realized there were ACTUAL cupcakes.

The punch was orange juice and Sprite with cherries in the bottom. I think I drank more than the kids. And how cute are all those details – custom cups?!

Party animal!

We need to work on her table manners. And sitting.

It was so much fun seeing the display of vintage Cabbage Patch Kids and the new Cabbage Patch Kids Celebration ‘Kids in honor of their 30th birthday. Does that make you feel old or what? I remember desperately wanting the a Cabbage Patch Kid when I was little, and how exciting it was to see the new ones come out every year. I’m such a fan of vintage toys that are still going strong, since you know in another 30 years our grandkids are going to be feeding and changing and tucking in their Cabbage Patch Kids too. Best part – they still smell EXACTLY the same as they did when I was little.

In addition to Peanut and Emme, the kids brought home a couple of Cabbage Patch Kids Cuties – one dressed as a rabbit and one dressed as a kitty I think. They’re the perfect size  for a preschooler, and ours have come with us lots and lots of places since we adopted them. I wish I had hidden a couple more in my bag for stocking stuffers.

It was a really fun day and totally worth the train ride plus the craziness that was dragging two kids and a bunch of balloons through the city because my children insisted on bringing them ALL home.

Huge thanks to our friends at JAKKS Pacific for letting us attend the party and for our very own Cabbage Patch Kids.