An Early 2nd Birthday Party

Aubrey and her little cousin Evan are only two months apart in age, and that means his mom and I got the chance to plan a joint birthday party. Two times the fun, half the planning and clean up, and two very happy kiddos – sign me up! I don’t think Aubrey noticed it’s still a couple of months until she is actually 2. She probably thinks her birthday is in August anyway considering her 1st birthday party was also held early so it could coincide with a trip home from Turkey last year. 

We went with a pool party theme since we’ve held a few impromptu swim parties over the summer that have been big hits with the kids. I have to give most of the credit of this party to Evan’s mom. We had a lot of craziness going on in our household and she thankfully took the reigns on most of the planning and preparing. 

And the result was super cute! 

It ended up being a million degrees and hot and humid the day of the party. It figures since the whole week prior was fairly comfortable. The kids didn’t seem to mind.

Cousin love 🙂

We had kiddies pools, slip and slides, slides into kiddie pools, and lots of water balloons. 

Aubrey pretty much lost interest in everything but the balloons. Too bad there isn’t a sport that involves bursting balloons filled with water.

I was in charge of the cake. I hate to come across cheap, but after pricing out cakes at local bakeries I was blown away by the pricing for a little cake I knew the kids would just be smashing to bits. We’re lucky to have a grandmother that makes as good a cake as any, and I was feeling a little brave after last years success, so we went with the homemade variety. I’m pretty happy with the end result. Although the little personalized swimmer toppers really “take the cake” if you know what I mean. 

Just as they really got going with the cake we were hit by a torrential downpour. Those that could grabbed kids and food and ran inside, while the rest stuck it out using table cloths for protection. 

The gift opening segment took place inside. 

We are now living in a smaller house, and Will and I have been working really hard at not accumulating and keeping so much stuff. This is really hard to do when you have kids. It’s so easy to want to spoil them with every kind of toy on the market. It’s even harder when you have tons of family that also wants to spoil them rotten. We’ve tried to be very mindful when it comes to holidays and gifts, focusing on things that are both fun and functional, and quality versus quantity. 

Some of Aubrey’s favorite things right now are books, being outside, music, and play doh. So we stuck to those things. She received an awesome “monica” (harmonica) like she has learned to play at her Aunts’ house, a shiny red tricycle, books (we can never have too many books – especially when you’ve had to read the same ones OVER and OVER again), a new baby (the one she has had since her last birthday has been dragged literally all over the world and is looking a little haggard these days), a puzzle, some clothes, and a really awesome playset for the back yard (to be put together at some point when mom and Papa can find time to take a break from house projects). 

It’s safe to say the party was a big success for the two honorees. I’m so glad they have each other to grow up with. I loved having a bunch of cousins to go through my childhood with, and a few I’m still close with today. Family is everything. 

Happy early 2nd Birthday sweet Aubrey Eleanor! Papa and I couldn’t love you more, and are so proud of everything you are!