Logan's 2nd Birthday Party

A few weeks ago we had a family party at our house to celebrate Logan's 2nd birthday. Usually I come up with a theme for the party based on what they are into at the time, or maybe an idea I saw somewhere (Pinterest, anyone?). But this party came straight from something I was cleaning out of his dresser several months ago...a baby bib.

When I saw it as I was sorting through baby items, it immediately inspired this party in my mind and I set it aside on my desk. I loved the colors and the cute little monster. And what better represents an energetic two-year-old than a sweet little monster!

So, here's the invitation I created using the "Cute Monsters Creator" clip art set by Cloud Street Lab on Etsy.

And here's Logan, ready for his party. He had a cold the week of his party and was still congested that day, but he was still really happy and up for the festivities. I got his little monster shirt from Lions & Lilly Pads on Etsy. I love this shirt because it really fits his personality and it is one of those wonderful, thick t-shirts that are he can wear several more times (and already has) before it gets cooler around here. I have no idea why he insisted on wearing his crocs during the party. That definitely was not part of what I had planned for him to wear! But the boy knows what he wants, that's for sure.

I kept the decor and menu really simple, and as a result, this was one of the most stress-free parties to plan and execute. I got the green zig-zag fabric for the tables from Modern Cloth on Etsy.

I got these paper mache letters at Hobby Lobby. I just painted them and added a few simple accessories to give the impression of "letter" monsters. Ethan actually got a big kick out of these. And they were really fun to make!

These pom-pom monsters were created using the tissue paper pom-poms I used at Logan's first birthday party. I usually don't keep/store things like that after a party, but for some reason I couldn't part with them since they were still in such good condition. So, I tucked them away in a large gift bag in a closet, and forgot about them. Then I saw someone make monsters out of them for party decorations and I was immediately glad I had kept them. Hurray for re-purposing decorations! I used these on the food table as well as for the table centerpieces.

For the cake, I went back and forth on whether to make a monster cake with "hairy" icing that I saw on Pinterest and loved. Or the cute, colorful monster cupcakes that I also loved. Ultimately, I spied these little drink accessories/sticks at Hobby Lobby on sale in the party aisle with the luau stuff. When I saw them, my mind saw eye balls and I decided to do my own version of monster cupcakes.

They turned out exactly how I saw them in my mind that day. For the cupcake wrappers, I just downloaded a template I found online and created my own monster smiles in Photoshop using the same monster creator elements I had used for the invitations.

This turned out to be a good idea for me because I can design things in Photoshop and wield my glue gun (for the googly eyes) much better than I can decorate a cake. The only piping skills I had to use for these cupcakes was a big swirl of buttercream icing with an extra large Wilton tip. Easy. I didn't even color the frosting like I had thought I would.

I also printed up a few food/drink labels for our guests to know what they were eating or drinking (on those things that were not obvious). This particular party food (below) was the completely addictive pretzel-M&M-Hershey's Kiss combo that I will be making for every occasion I can imagine. We also had pulled pork sandwiches and other minor side items.

The first thing we did was watch a video I put together of Logan's first two years (in photos). This stemmed from my shortfall last year at his first birthday party...I forgot to play the video I had made! And I was so mad at myself. So this year, I added in photos from his second year and we actually watched it at the party! Family members don't mind (and may even enjoy) watching 10+ minutes of photos of the birthday boy. Logan enjoyed it too. This child can be found in this position just about every time he watches TV. For some reason, he loves to touch his belly button.

Ethan and Mimi watching photos of Logan. Ethan actually loved looking at the old photos.

After the video, Logan took a quick break to give me a check up. Except he's listening to his own...stomach?

For our last two parties I have blown up a few balloons myself in stead of using helium. My boys love to play with them. They are actually still in our living room and were played with just today. Cheap thrills.

Then, we took an unorthodox route and opened presents early in the party (with the video playing in a constant loop in the background). Logan was in heaven opening all these toys just for him. What a treat!

This Buzz Lightyear figure (which is actually a really cool toy), was a gift from Ethan. He picked it out all by himself one day when it was just me and him at Target. I think he may have had in mind for Logan to share it with him (which he does), but when Ethan saw it that day, he said, "Mom! Logan loves Buzz! He will love that toy." I love that he picked something out for his brother that he knew he would love. Buzz is Logan's favorite Toy Story character.

The last toy to be brought out was one that was too big to be wrapped. We had it in the garage. It was a pony from Mimi and Pop! Both of the boys absolutely love Lucky and love to ride him. They are pretty good about sharing him. Since they both like to dress up as cowboys, it's been fun to have Lucky for our cowboys to ride. He makes galloping noises when you ride him and if you push his ear, he sings a song.

That photo above also captures a fateful moment...when Casey injured his back putting Logan on the horse. It seems innocent enough, but apparently his legs and feet were in just the right (or wrong) position when he twisted his back and he was pretty much incapacitated with severe pain for the rest of the party. No exaggeration. But, with a combination of ice, Aleve, and two visits to the Chiropractor that next week, he was back to normal.

I think Logan rode that pony for a good 10-15 minutes without stopping. We weren't sure he was going to get off. Until I showed him a cupcake. Then he got down!

And he made the cutest, funniest face when he was blowing out his candles. A few days before, on his actual birthday, he was not a fan of the candles. But when my mom put the cupcake in front of him at the party, he immediately knew what to do! The funny thing is that he was not actually blowing at all, even though he thought he was! Ethan helped him and together they blew out the candles.

He wanted the cake, but not the icing. And that's not because he wouldn't like the icing. No, he's got a sweet tooth. But icing is just different from the norm for him and Logan doesn't do different when it comes to food.

After the boys ate their cupcakes (because they couldn't wait!), we had the pulled pork sandwiches for lunch and then the adults had cupcakes too. Everyone stuck around to watch the boys play with all of Logan's new toys for a while. 

We almost forgot to take our family photo, but aunt Chelsea snapped one for us before they left. I would have moved us to a better lighting situation, but Casey was doing well just to sit up on the couch (where he had been laying since he hurt his back).

It was so fun and special to celebrate our little monster for a few hours with family. We are definitely thankful that we have Logan in our lives!

Movies in the Media Room

On one of the other days of our family vacation at the lake house, we watched a movie with the boys in the media room...their first time to do that. We watched Toy Story 3 and we popped popcorn as our movie snack, of course.

These photos are terrible. The photographer side of me cringes when I look at them (I didn't even try to fix the color casts from the TV), but the mom side wins out in sharing them because I just love seeing my boys reclining in those big chairs with their popcorn. They had so much fun.

A Day in Our Life: Lake House Edition (July 2012)

I briefly mentioned the other day that I only took photos on one of the days we were at the lake house for our family vacation this summer. The rest of the days, I barely even picked up my camera once (with a couple of small exceptions). In some ways, that was really hard for me because my camera is like an extension of my body and I kind of felt naked without it. I truly enjoy documenting our life and it feels funny to not do that for once. 

But, since we were there for 5 days, and we did a lot of the same things, I figured I'd be totally in the moment with no camera most of the time and just pick one day to document. And then, the thought occurred to me that I should do a lake house version of the "day in our life" posts I've done in the past (2009, 2010, 2012). So here you have it...a pretty typical day at the lake house for our family right now (in the middle of summer). Only one thing is different from my previous posts...there are no times on this one because we are not on a schedule on vacation! We pretty much know when the boys are hungry or tired, so we just go off that.

First thing in the morning, we bring both of the boys into bed with us when they wake up (around 7am) to watch cartoons. Right now that is usually Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It gives Casey and me a few more minutes to doze before we have to get up. Vacation mornings are supposed to be lazy, but the boys don't always get the memo!

When Ethan starts telling me he's hungry and Logan grabs me by the hand and pulls me into the kichen, saying "c'mon, mama," I know it's time to make breakfast. Some days at the lake house we take time to make a special and fun breakfast like pancakes, waffles, etc. But some days, we just do our regular thing so we can move on to some fun activities and not linger over breakfast. This day was a regular breakfast kind of day. I think the boys had oatmeal, yogurt (for Logan), and fruit (for Ethan).

I think this may be the last time Logan sits in the high chair at the lake house. When we went back two weeks after this for some time with my parents out there, he wanted nothing to do with the high chair...he's a big boy now. He has been sitting in a booster seat at home for a while now, so I'm not that surprised.

After breakfast, the boys go play in the living room with some of the new toys Mimi has brought out to the lake house for them. Logan is shirtless because he got yogurt on his shirt at breakfast.

Logan must not have gotten as much sleep as he really needed since he's already taking a snooze!

Notice the Jake and the Neverland Pirates shirt that Ethan is wearing. He pretty much picks out his clothes now, so of course, he's wearing one of his "character" shirts!

After a few minutes of play and time for us to clean up after breakfast, we got dressed in our swim suits and headed out to see the horses! Strange attire, I know, for the barn and horses. But, we wanted to go straight from the horses to the pool because we knew we'd be hot and ready for a dip.

Ethan is not shy (usually) with the horses...he walks right up and starts feeding before the rest of us can even get up there. And I love that he talks to the horses too.

I think I did a pretty good job of handing off the camera to Casey a few times during the day to catch me doing things with the boys. I usually forget to do that.

Ethan is holding his hand completely flat like you're supposed to when feeding horses. They don't really bite, because they use their lips to grab the carrot. But, occasionally, you can get "nipped" by their teeth if you hold the carrot with your fingers.

Logan is holding the carrot incorrectly...and you can see how concerned I am about that! Ha! No encounters with horse teeth that time, though. But feeding the horses by himself is actually a big step for him! He thinks it is so fun, but he's still wary of the horses.

When we ran out of carrots, we took a stroll through the barn where the horses are kept. There were a few in their stalls so we said hello.

Then, as promised, we went swimming at the pool. Ethan is swimming to the rock that you can sort of see underwater in front of him. He is so proud to do this on his own. And because we have a swimmer now, we spent far less time at the toddler pool. We still went over there a few times for Logan.

Ethan with a scary smile and Logan completely disinterested...

Daddy shows Ethan how to do a canon ball...

And Ethan jumps off the waterfall for the first time! And had a blast doing it!

Below the waterfall is fun too. Ethan likes to swim out from under it.

And Logan loves to feel the water on his hands. He also loves to wash his hands in the sink at home because of the running water, so the waterfall is a favorite of his.

It never fails that Logan gets tired of the water at some point and wants a snack. But, he's usually happy for a while sitting on the chair and leisurely eating his pretzels. It gives us a while longer before he's ready to go back to the house.

Straight from a snack at the pool to lunch at the house...looks like peanut butter sandwiches today.

After lunch, the boys go down for naps. On this day both boys slept really well because they were worn out from our morning. Casey and I usually read or do stuff on our laptops while the boys sleep. Sometimes we catch a brief nap too!

After naps, Ethan is begging to go back to the pool. I love their crazy faces in the photo below. It also captures my lake house style...no makeup (I don't even bring it with me), and this time, I didn't even blow dry my hair while we were there. Thus, the hat.

More jumping off the waterfall. When he first started jumping, he would swim to Casey and then to the wall. By the time we left, he just swam to the wall and hopped out to go jump again.

Logan did swim with me, but while I was taking photos, he hung out on the step and watched the action. He was playing with that squirt toy that is floating away in the water...

Then, he found a car that someone had left behind and it became his new best friend.

Another one of Ethan's favorite things to do at the pool is collect dive sticks from the bottom. He will do this over and over again. Here he is swimming back to the steps after getting one...

When we could tell that evening was approaching, we packed up at the pool and headed home for dinner, which is not pictured. I'm pretty sure this was the night we had chicken tacos. But after dinner is when the real meal took place...s'mores! This was the boys first time to ever roast marshmallows and taste s'mores!

They were excited!

Logan is impressed with the fire pit...

Daddy shows them how to roast their marshmallows. Logan was totally on board, but Ethan was slightly more hesitant about the hot fire, which is completely in line with their personalities.

Well, I think he liked it. And true to form, he got sticky, and didn't like that. Good thing we hadn't taken baths yet.

Logan liked it too. Although he ate his graham crackers separately after a while and kept calling them "coo-kees" (cookies), which is absolutely his favorite food group.

For some reason, I didn't finish out the day with photos. But, the boys took a bath, put on PJs, and went to bed. Casey and I just chilled for a while, watched some TV, and read a little before going to bed ourselves...probably way later than we should. 

On this trip, we did some things on other days that we usually do like collecting and throwing rocks into the lake, riding in the golf cart...and one new one...involving the media room (in tomorrow's post).

Our days at the lake house are a true mixture of relaxation and exhaustion. Fun activities, doing whatever we want, and being perfectly and happily tired at the end of the day!

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