Birthday Party!!

I can't believe Eliana's birthday party was 10 days ago and I haven't blogged it yet. My apologies to those of you who have been waiting for pictures!! I took advantage of the fact that Eliana's birthday is in hot July and planned an outdoor "splash" party. We put up a sun shelter to provide cover for the food and some shade and we let the kids have fun running around the yard! They played on the swingset (with new slide addition!) and in the pool, and in the sprinkler, and with bubbles. I decided that toddlers don't have the attention span for anything organized, and they appeared to have plenty of fun that way!

Here was the party setup... I decided cupcakes are MUCH easier to do than a cake, and you don't need utensils to eat them. We went with a beach theme (mostly because I found this cute beverage dispenser at Target for $6 and wanted to use it!) so the cupcakes were simple once I knew what I wanted to do!

This year Ellie got to blow out the candle on her own, which seemed to be exciting for her!

I also made some Martha Stewart ice cream balls on a stick. I probably won't do that again, given how difficult it ended up being, but the kids seemed to enjoy them. And given the blue frosting on the cupcakes and the sprinkles on the ice cream balls, can you guess what the party guests looked like for most of the time? Yes, much like this... (another good reason to hold the party outside!)

Ellie knew just what to do when it came time to open her gifts, though she wanted to play with the newly opened ones instead of opening the next. I suppose it's good that we didn't have 30 kids at the party or she never would have gotten through her gifts!!

One of the things she got from Grammee and Grandad was a $2 bill for her 2nd birthday. She pulled it out of the card and knew what it was immediately. "Money!" she said! It was pretty funny.

The party lasted pretty much exactly 2 hours, from 10-noon. It was a great party, judging from the kids' reactions. No real meltdowns (I'm guessing partly thanks to the party favors handed out just before the gift opening) and plenty for the kids to play with. Cleanup was a snap (no utensils or dishes to wash!!) and we enjoyed the rest of the weekend with Leif's family. So, late as this post is, I hope you enjoyed seeing a little of Eliana's celebration. She's finally two!