Sebastian's 2nd Birthday Party

Sebastian turned two last Thursday and we had his party on Sunday. I struggle with ideas for younger kids' birthday parties. Once they're three, I have better ideas, but one and two might as well be a wash.

This year, though, I wanted to do a balloon party. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, but by the time I thought of it, Joshua was too old to really enjoy it as his party. So we got a balloon cake and two bags of balloons and went for it.

Which room was easy. With a plan to repaint the dining room over this three day weekend, it had to be cleared out anyway. The balloons, not so easy. The air mattress pump I wanted to use to fill them? Didn't work. Air compressor? Not a chance. I had waited to do this after the boys went to bed for a 12 noon party the next day.

So I blew them up myself. Over a hundred. I think Kris grabbed somewhere between 10-20 and we ended up with about 130 balloons or so, with a few of the ones in the packages being duds. Yes, a lot of work. But for that work, we got this.

And this.

There is about three feet of snow outside from this massive Winter. We can't even go sledding because temperatures are often in frostbite range. So, the kiddos got to have a balloon ball room for a day, and absolutely loved it. Time to eat - back to the ball room. Time for presents - back to the ball room. Don't you want cake? Sure, but can we go back to the ball room after?

Even the dogs got a turn in the ball room, though it wasn't quite as exciting as anticipated. They were just too overwhelmed with the number of balloons.

And when it was all done, my boys and their cousins got to pop every balloon that was left, helping us get ready for paint.

All in all, it was worth every breath into those balloons. :-)

Family Fun: Sebastian's 1st Birthday

The Collaboration Challenge is on pause for the moment. I'll update you when I know more.

I had such a busy fun weekend! And I have pictures. Lots of baby-eating-cake pictures. (So sorry if this page takes forever to load.)

The party was so much fun. We had a good showing. I had Joshua (Big Brother) help open the presents while Sebastian played with the bags and boxes and tissue paper. As the toys were unwrapped, I passed them out to the kiddos watching and gave permission to take them out of the packages. Great for a couple reasons. 1) Kiddos don't get too jealous while watching the present opening. 2) Other parents open all the cardboard and twist ties and other crap for me! Win Win!

Then, there's the cake. We had Thomas the Train cakes (there's a photo somewhere, but not on my phone). A big cake for everyone else with Thomas from the store, then a little cake they copied the frosting on and I put one of Joshua's trains (Percy, if you know the show) on the little one for Sebastian. He got the little cake and dug right in while the rest of us enjoyed the untouched bigger cake.

Here Are the Photos!

I do not have before and after pics of the kitchen yet, simply because 'after' is not finished. Per typical DIY projects, this one had more issues than expected, is taking more materials than expected, and therefore will take more time than expected. But we're hoping to be done by this weekend, so pictures are still coming. Everyone at the party loved the progress, though, so it makes me all the more excited to finish it.