2nd Birthday....6 1/2 months later

This post is has been delayed for so long it’s a slight joke that I’ve waited until his two and A HALF birthday to post his birthday party. I had so much fun planning the party, I enjoyed the party, and I like the pictures…it was just something about it that seemed too overwhelming to post in January and since then I’ve found every excuse not to post it. Want to know a horrible truth? I haven’t posted a Facebook album since Moses’ first birthday party. Yes I have the crappy mobile upload album but out of the 100’s of pictures I have from the last 18 months none of them are shared with the world.

Journeying back 6 1/2 months…

Browsing the internets one day in December I came across the circus/ carnival theme and fell in love. I didn’t want to put as much effort into the party like we did his first birthday by having everything be themed and over the top so I thought carrying the red and teal carnival colors would be enough. Of course one thing led to another which led to 10 others and we had a full blown carnival theme!

(note: when I say “we” I’m talking about myself, my personal Marta Stewart aka my mom, and a few other ladies that spend time helping me simply because they love our family)

We started with the thought of hot dogs and a nacho bar (very simple carnival) and ended up with caramel apples, a popcorn machine, and even rented a cotton candy machine!

The food was simple and all ages could enjoy a good ol’ hotdog loaded up with their favorite condiments. I loved how pretty the caramel apples were however we put a little too much coating on them and you couldn’t even bite into them!

I had seen a popcorn cupcakes in our Hello Cupcake book years ago and I wanted to recreate the idea. With faux popcorn wrappers costing too much on Etsy we found a way to design our own. A family friend is a wonderful wood worker and helped me design the popcorn stand to hold the cupcakes. To say it turned out perfect is an understatement; I could not have dreamed of a better cake stand. It was funny to see all the people at the party that didn’t realize they were cupcakes!

We wanted to continue with the carnival theme for the toddler games. We had can knockdown, Gone Fishin’ and Peanut Toss all made out of household objects and blue board.

The Gone Fishin’ was a huge success because my step dad sat behind the wall and attached cheap-o kid lovin’ prizes onto their fishing pole. In the front room we set out coloring pages for the older kids and had the return of the bounce house for the wild ones.

We also had family friends make balloon hats and animals which were really fun.

If you notice I’m not mentioning my mom during all the party festivities and that’s because she wasn’t there. Her brother was killed just days before the party and she had flown out to California to be with her family. It was extremely sad for me because of all the planning we had done leading up to this special day and she wasn’t able to be a part of it. Being the incredible mom that she is she worked so hard to help finish up loose ends before she left. In place of my mom a few amazing friends stepped in and helped me all throughout the party. It took a small team to help run the party and I’m so grateful I was able to enjoy the party knowing I had the best of friends (and sisters) to help me.

Picture missing Larura and Danyell who helped out SO much too!

The rest of the party was so much fun; we opened presents and played with friends long after the party was over. We even kept the peanut toss up for weeks!

Acting shy in front of everyone!

Enjoying opening presents with a snack, of course!

Clearly tired and o-v-e-r present opening

I am so thankful so all our friends and family that attended and helped out with the party! After two big parties in a row we decided next year it’s a sheet cake and bounce house facility!

If you have a 2 year old you understand why he's not looking at the camera....because he NEVER does!