Hadman is officially a two-year-old, y'all. It happened. And I was, once again, a kinda crappy blogger. After putting a crapload of time into putting the party together (not a complaint; I enjoy doing stuff like that), I failed to take any Pinterest-worthy pictures. Okay, I failed to take many even halfway decent pictures.
See why I don't own a DSLR camera? I don't deserve one. *hangs head*
But, guess what I do have, folks. *points to head* The memory and the words, so it's time to putpen to paper fingers to keyboard and spill the deets. After all, we all know... I. Rite. Good. Goodly. ;-)
The realization that the day might not go as planned came Saturday -- the night before the big event. See, there's a huge local 15k/5k/wheelchair run that gets mad exposure (and brings mad tourist dollars) to the area. Out of all the run's 30+ years, it never had to cancel, but the impending weather for it (which happened to be Hadman's birthday) was seriously threatening it.
Spoiler alert: The weather turned out fine. Not rain-free, mind you, but not tornadic like earlier in the week. (Not kidding.) Whew.
But, because we knew there was a chance of rain/high winds/severe weather, I decided to nix a vast majority of the decorations. *frowny face* I tossed up a chalkboard banner I had filled in to say "Happy Birthday Hadley" (with ducks and stars cutey-ing it up) and a cool little plaque that I can't wait to reuse every year, as well as a Duck from "Click, Clack, Moo" that I quickly sketched. Add some chevron fabric for the food table, a few party hats, and a smattering of neat duck facts (I'm nothing if not a fact finder), and I called it a day.
I kept reminding myself that it wasn't about the fancy. It wasn't about the Pinterestworthy pictures (which I probably would've tried to get if I hadn't been distracted by the weather). It wasn't even about the food, necessarily. It was about Hadley's day, and if he and everyone who came had fun, that was the damn point. It helped me chill out a bit. A bit.
The food wasn't too crazy, but it kills me that I didn't grab a picture of my fruit skewers. Kills. Me. :-P Just picture: skewers with blueberries and strawberries in one mason jar, another with pineapples/cantaloup/watermelon on another set of skewers in a mason jar. *sigh* I tossed the rest of the loose fruit in a bowl near some honey yogurt dip (I wasn't a fan, but I don't like honey; next time just vanilla) as well as some watermelon ducks (watermelon + duck cookie cutter) in a bowl surrounded by blueberries.
Can't you just envision it? Thanks. Thanks for helping out. I appreciate that.
We also had popcorn on tables, some pretzels and chips on the food table, some tomato pie that my in-laws were awesome enough to bring, and a veggie platter with super yummy dip. Thanks, Ina! And I brought out a lemon cake with lemony cream cheese (sorry, Dan!) frosting, plus some classic vanilla ice cream on the side. Hoping to post the recipe soon, since I took two and combined 'em.
At this age, with pretty much just Hadley and his shy-of-3 cousin (and a couple of awesome teen cousins), there's no need to plan much for a party. No need for pinatas or games or anything; not yet. Between providing a less stressful planning experience for Mom and Dad, it's nice to see what unfolds.
And that was, by far, the best part of the day.
Have you noticed how we don't get many rainy summer days the way we did when we were little? (By this I'm talking as a kid of the '80s, but it could apply back to the 1840's; if that's you, God bless ya!) Well, we had one of THOSE rainy days. Awesome!
Hadley fed birds with Grandpa ("Papa"), picked cherry tomatoes with Grandma, rode in his new wagon with his BFF cousin and, best of all, ran around and splashed in the puddles with everyone else.
You know it's a good party when someone needs to be thrown in a bathtub before heading home. That can be applied to adult parties, too, by the way. ;-)
So, even though Hadman had a meltdown thanks to completely missing a nap and it rained lots, it was an insanely awesome party! Thanks for vicariously attending with us!
See why I don't own a DSLR camera? I don't deserve one. *hangs head*
But, guess what I do have, folks. *points to head* The memory and the words, so it's time to put
The realization that the day might not go as planned came Saturday -- the night before the big event. See, there's a huge local 15k/5k/wheelchair run that gets mad exposure (and brings mad tourist dollars) to the area. Out of all the run's 30+ years, it never had to cancel, but the impending weather for it (which happened to be Hadman's birthday) was seriously threatening it.
Spoiler alert: The weather turned out fine. Not rain-free, mind you, but not tornadic like earlier in the week. (Not kidding.) Whew.
But, because we knew there was a chance of rain/high winds/severe weather, I decided to nix a vast majority of the decorations. *frowny face* I tossed up a chalkboard banner I had filled in to say "Happy Birthday Hadley" (with ducks and stars cutey-ing it up) and a cool little plaque that I can't wait to reuse every year, as well as a Duck from "Click, Clack, Moo" that I quickly sketched. Add some chevron fabric for the food table, a few party hats, and a smattering of neat duck facts (I'm nothing if not a fact finder), and I called it a day.
The food wasn't too crazy, but it kills me that I didn't grab a picture of my fruit skewers. Kills. Me. :-P Just picture: skewers with blueberries and strawberries in one mason jar, another with pineapples/cantaloup/watermelon on another set of skewers in a mason jar. *sigh* I tossed the rest of the loose fruit in a bowl near some honey yogurt dip (I wasn't a fan, but I don't like honey; next time just vanilla) as well as some watermelon ducks (watermelon + duck cookie cutter) in a bowl surrounded by blueberries.
Can't you just envision it? Thanks. Thanks for helping out. I appreciate that.
We also had popcorn on tables, some pretzels and chips on the food table, some tomato pie that my in-laws were awesome enough to bring, and a veggie platter with super yummy dip. Thanks, Ina! And I brought out a lemon cake with lemony cream cheese (sorry, Dan!) frosting, plus some classic vanilla ice cream on the side. Hoping to post the recipe soon, since I took two and combined 'em.
And that was, by far, the best part of the day.
Have you noticed how we don't get many rainy summer days the way we did when we were little? (By this I'm talking as a kid of the '80s, but it could apply back to the 1840's; if that's you, God bless ya!) Well, we had one of THOSE rainy days. Awesome!
Hadley fed birds with Grandpa ("Papa"), picked cherry tomatoes with Grandma, rode in his new wagon with his BFF cousin and, best of all, ran around and splashed in the puddles with everyone else.
You know it's a good party when someone needs to be thrown in a bathtub before heading home. That can be applied to adult parties, too, by the way. ;-)
So, even though Hadman had a meltdown thanks to completely missing a nap and it rained lots, it was an insanely awesome party! Thanks for vicariously attending with us!
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