Dexter's circus-themed 1st birthday party, Part 3

The one you've all been waiting for:  The fun!

Did you see Part One and Part Two already?  No?  Go on, get caught up.  I'll wait.

Well, as you saw in Part One, I decided to rent a bounce house to entertain the little ones.  It is a bit much for a 1 year old's party, I know, but most of Dexter's friends, cousins, etc. are older.  The party is about pleasing the guests as much as the guest of honor, right?  So we planned big fun.  Some gifts that we assembled ahead of time were big hits too, like the Little Tikes Police Car, Step Two Waterpark, and Step 2 All Sports Climber.  I think there was something for everyone!

A friend at the babysitter's house, Beau

The babysitter's sweet boy, Layton

Another friend, maybe girlfriend, Abby!

Our newest friend, Kingston (3 little weeks old!)

Time to eat!

Water park time!

This kid loves to splash.

Playing in the water with cousin Spencer.

My sister and grandma both made it in from out of town.

I LOVE TO BOUNCE!

More friends, Angie, Cody, and baby Dawson.

Me and tiny Kingston.

Me & Ang.  I realize now that I did not do a good job of making sure I got pictures with all my/our friends.  So bad about remembering to do this!

Well, we hadn't planned on opening presents naked, but after getting soaked at the water park table...it seemed like the only reasonable option!

A new backpack!  Wait...it's not your birthday!

Time to smash!

He didn't know what to do, so big brother had to show him the ropes. 

Figured it out.

Bye bye cake.  And camera battery (good timing!).

There are lots of other friends and family members that came to celebrate who are not pictured in the blog - I hope no one is sad that I left them out!  We were just thrilled to have such a great turnout and such beautiful weather on this very special day.  At the end of the day, my heart was full of love for our people and pride for my baby boys.  Also, my stomach was full of hearty laughter because we saw Aziz Ansari at 8:30pm.  That was waaay too much to do in one day, but I couldn't miss a chance to see my favorite celebrity make me laugh my butt off.  Not literally. It's still there.  

Start to finish, it was one fabulous day.  Thanks to everyone that helped to make it that way! 

xoxo, 

the very happy mommy of a 1 year old and a 2 year old

Dexter's circus-themed birthday party, Part 2

Food!

I didn't want to deal with watching a punch bowl so I kept it simple on the drinks by offering just water, orange Hawaiian punch, lemonade, and sweet tea.  Yep, all store bought.  One of my favorite things about this drink station?  Did you know Solo makes smaller solo cups with lids and straws?  Perfect for smaller hands and so cute.  They come 15 in a pack.  I was just disappointed that we didn't have any left over!

You can see the crock pot there, next to the tea.  That's as close as I came to getting a picture of the meatballs.  These balls are unbelievably easy, always delicious, and predictably crowd-pleasing!

Another simple crowd-pleaser, the traditional veggie tray with ranch/sour cream dip.  I washed and cut the vegetables myself (besides the carrots) to save money.  Well worth it. 

Mini PB&Js on rye for little mouths and hands.(Pardon the spoons). 

To tie into the circus/carnival theme, we had (store-bought, frozen) corn dogs.  I thought the kids would like these. Uh? They were the first things to go.  We had 80.  Should have bought 120!  Served with ketchup and mustard.

These are my favorite appetizers to make for a party of any kind!  They are so good, so simple, and people love them.  They're called Tortilla Pinwheels.  Served with mild salsa.  

Ryan's mom is super sweet and she's great at making sweet treats.  She agreed to make the cupcakes and smash cake for Dexter's party. I gave her free reign and these are the adorable (and delicious) cakes she came up with.  

Seemed like all of the food was a hit.  Interested in seeing what Dexter did with that cute orange cake?  

Part three coming up - the FUN!

xo-

the mommy of a 1 year old and a 2 year old