Birthday Party Time

I vow to not combine my August birthdays every year (I really do!) but this year I wanted to create memories more for me than any other reason.  My littlest baby was turning one and Piper, who had just turned three, was making party requests.  So it seemed natural to have one big shindig, the best way to gather the most people at once.



I started by creating this birthday party invitation to send out via email and Facebook. (The original did have my contact information should you think I’m really silly, but I don’t think I want it all over the internet.) I love how it turned out!

Cousin Calder’s birthday is also in August, so we had to do a little shuffling and planning amongst the family to make it all work, but Sarianna and I worked it out. Calder had a lunch party at Chuck E Cheese that afternoon, then everybody trooped up to our house for a birthday party that evening. 

Do you like Emma's crown?  I made one for her and one for Piper to wear at their party, inspired by one I saw on Pinterest.  They were a huge hit!

Knowing the logistics behind it, I decided the smartest move would be to have food that was already prepared and food that was OK to sit out in the sun awhile (nothing mayo-based). I made BBQ pork the day before, roasting it all day then shredding it up. I threw this in one crockpot and put hot dogs in the other. I also made a few kinds of salsa, had a selection of chips, caprese salad, cut up watermelon in the shape of stars (seriously the biggest hit with the kids!), with lemonade and water as drinks. For dessert Piper requested pink cupcakes and picked out a Pink Lemonade cake mix she saw at the grocery store. I wasn’t sure everyone would like lemon cupcakes, so I also made “wedding cake cupcakes”. I iced both with my favorite icing of all time, leaving the lemon cupcake icing white (but adding pink sprinkles) and tinting the wedding cake cupcake icing pink.  I also made a small smash cake for Emma (who was NOT shy about digging in!) with the last bits of wedding cake cupcake batter and pink icing.

We had a lovely group of friends and family for the party, including friends from our church, Grandma and Grandpa Kay, our Valgardson cousins, and family friends’ the Pattersons.     

 

 

The girls had such a good time playing with all of the kids. I think that was their highlight - aside from the presents of course. They were treated royally and received some fun gifts (even though I said no gifts necessary), including books, clothes and toys. (I am so grateful for the generosity of all of our loved one and have enjoyed reading their books to them, watching them play with toys, and wearing their new outfits.)  The party must have been a success - everyone stuck around after present opening and played until the kids just couldn't stay awake any longer (or started to melt down, which is what generally comes first).

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET PIPER AND EMMA!