Connor and Alaina had their first real birthday party on Sunday, complete with guests, presents, cake, ice cream, balloons, and games. They loved every second of it. The theme was supposed to be round things...bubbles, balloons, water bombs, etc, but the wind had other plans for us.
Melon balls!
I had this idyllic vision of late afternoon sun, late spring warmth, kids chasing bubbles in the backyard. But alas, all bubble play was moved to the garage. The kids didn't seem to mind too much, though.
I learned through this experience that my party planning skills leave a little to be desired. I read online about how you can make your own bubble wands out of pipe cleaners, but it didn't even cross my mind to try it before the party! I think ours were a little too fuzzy and promptly collapsed at the weight of the bubble solution. Live and learn.
Connor soon tired of the faulty wands, and used his hands instead. I had shown him how to do this last year, but I can't believe he remembered without any prompting!
After the bubbles, it was time for cake and ice cream. Once again, I had dreamed up this creative idea (with the help of Mike!) of filling the centers of the kids' bundt cakes with ice cream balls rolled in colored sugar. Blue/yellow for Connor and pink/purple for Alaina.
Instead of a pyramid of perfectly formed colored balls, the ice cream wasn't hard enough (Mike also suggested liquid nitrogen, but I think that'd be a little overkill!), and resulted in a melty blob (and a candle with a bite taken out from a little sister). Oh well, I tried. I will, however, claim some good mom points for actually making the cakes, instead of buying them from the store like I did last year. :P
Alaina goes a little comatose when she knows lots of people are looking at her.
Sneak!
At the last minute, Anthony and I decided to take advantage of the wind and bought dollar kites for all the kites. Thank goodness that part went well! :)
After the wind (and house, and trees) had claimed a few of the kits, we came back inside for presents! Since Marshy Marshmallow can't fly a kite yet, he opted to play with the streamers.
PRESENTS!
The kids with their loot from the cousins. Through the chaos of organizing this picture, I am mad that I didn't push harder to have Wes and Chris in this photo. I am kicking myself! We love you guys!
And that's the end of it! I am scared at the prospect of having another party next year! Man, I am a wimp. With Alaina's real birthday still pending, look for a future Day Out With Thomas post! Or perhaps I should call it "Time Out For Thomas" to confuse the kids like Grandma did. :)
Melon balls!
I had this idyllic vision of late afternoon sun, late spring warmth, kids chasing bubbles in the backyard. But alas, all bubble play was moved to the garage. The kids didn't seem to mind too much, though.
I learned through this experience that my party planning skills leave a little to be desired. I read online about how you can make your own bubble wands out of pipe cleaners, but it didn't even cross my mind to try it before the party! I think ours were a little too fuzzy and promptly collapsed at the weight of the bubble solution. Live and learn.
Connor soon tired of the faulty wands, and used his hands instead. I had shown him how to do this last year, but I can't believe he remembered without any prompting!
After the bubbles, it was time for cake and ice cream. Once again, I had dreamed up this creative idea (with the help of Mike!) of filling the centers of the kids' bundt cakes with ice cream balls rolled in colored sugar. Blue/yellow for Connor and pink/purple for Alaina.
Instead of a pyramid of perfectly formed colored balls, the ice cream wasn't hard enough (Mike also suggested liquid nitrogen, but I think that'd be a little overkill!), and resulted in a melty blob (and a candle with a bite taken out from a little sister). Oh well, I tried. I will, however, claim some good mom points for actually making the cakes, instead of buying them from the store like I did last year. :P
Alaina goes a little comatose when she knows lots of people are looking at her.
Sneak!
At the last minute, Anthony and I decided to take advantage of the wind and bought dollar kites for all the kites. Thank goodness that part went well! :)
After the wind (and house, and trees) had claimed a few of the kits, we came back inside for presents! Since Marshy Marshmallow can't fly a kite yet, he opted to play with the streamers.
PRESENTS!
The kids with their loot from the cousins. Through the chaos of organizing this picture, I am mad that I didn't push harder to have Wes and Chris in this photo. I am kicking myself! We love you guys!
And that's the end of it! I am scared at the prospect of having another party next year! Man, I am a wimp. With Alaina's real birthday still pending, look for a future Day Out With Thomas post! Or perhaps I should call it "Time Out For Thomas" to confuse the kids like Grandma did. :)
3 comments:
First, those pictures are spectacular. Second, the party theme is so creative and cute! (you can make bubble wands out of straws with string inside of them to tie them together too) And I will give you props for making the cakes yourself! The ice cream balls were a cute experiment though! Your kids and their cheeks...adorable! Wish we could've been there!
LOVED your pictures! absolutely beautiful. such a nice evening with everybody!
oops, that's marinda, signed in as donald!
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