This past weekend we celebrated one adorable little man turning TWO! Since this was set to be likely the last birthday we could control the theme of, we decided to go with something we knew Will liked but would also be fun to do at an age when birthdays are more exciting for us as parents than they may be for the birthday boy himself. =) We went with a Dolphins theme and Will had a blast!
We started our initial birthday planning as generic football but then we happened to walk into Party City one day and realized there was an entire aisle that included a ton of Dolphins party supplies and the party morphed into what it was this weekend. What more would you expect from our little Fins Family?? (Okay, we debated between Dolphins and UCF but there was far more Dolphins stuff than UCF.) I found that I didn't do as much do-it-yourself stuff for this party as I might have in the past. Thankfully, the Dolphins party gear picked up where I had to leave off. We have been so busy lately that it made more sense to add those fun homemade touches, but also utilize what is available. Seriously, we know July is a busy month around here but once we added in a birthday in October, it became almost as out of control as July. Anyway, I think we had just enough to make sure that we had the Young stamp on this party. Will had fun and that is all that mattered.
One other thing we had to deal with was having our first party inside the house (Kenzie's was outside) that we did not have the use of our old formal dining room (because it is a playroom now.) So, we had to improvise on some things.
We had our normal hallway table that included our "party favor" which was popcorn dressed up to look like the popcorn you might find at a football game being sold by vendors. That popcorn turned out to be a highlight of the party. It was easy to carry around and we all know kids love popcorn. Props to Publix because it was super yummy. We also included a football for all of Will's friends and family to sign as the "game ball" so he could see who came to celebrate two with him. Turns out, I had to seal it once the party was over to make sure that the writing didn't rub off, but it wasn't difficult and it turned out super cute. We also threw in our uprights that we made for our church's trunk or treat last year (yeah, we had a Dolphins themed trunk...) because we have been holding them for a year and it only seemed appropriate.
We transitioned what is usually our cake table into the food table or "Concession Stand" complete with wings, sandwich stuff, pigs in a blanket, chips, dips, and the whole nine yards. One thing you can always count on at any party we throw is having a ton of food. We are all for our guests coming hungry and tailgating food is one thing we sort of specialize in. We spent many years tailgating before UCF games so we sort of have it down to a science. Being home lets us up the ante too so I think everyone enjoyed the food.
We then used our buffet as the cake table. One thing that initially bothered my Type A-ness was the cake options. Years ago I remember seeing NFL themed cakes at Publix but apparently those don't exist any more. We planned to go with a generic football cake but when Will saw the Mickey Mouse cake, he wanted that. So, despite it not fitting our theme, we made one little boy very happy and got the Mickey Mouse cake. The cake table was decked out as a generic football field including green "grass" as a tablecloth, brown plates to symbolize footballs and (my favorite) yellow and red napkins to serve as penalty flags.
We also included a photo booth this year but it didn't get a ton of use. Everyone just spent time sticking the fingers up their noses and goofing off. Our family and friends are a bit nutty but we love them. We got a fun family photo out of it though so I'm calling it a win.
Everyone seemed to have a great time. Will got a ton of new toys and he is super excited to try out all of them. The memo went out that he likes anything with a motor apparently and he raked in the toy cars, trucks, helicopters, and (his absolute favorite right now) trains in addition to a lot of other nice things. He got one train that he carries with him EVERYWHERE right now. He was one happy camper.
The party was so much fun that we put Will down for his nap late towards the end when everyone was heading out and he napped for almost 3 hours.
So, another fun party down and many more to go. We will see how it all goes next year when we have not only a little girl with huge ideas and opinions but also a little guy that is likely going to want his own theme and will have his own opinions. Each year birthday parties get more and more fun as they understand more of what is going on and invite more and more friends. I can't wait to see what the two of them come up with next year.
Go Dolphins!!!
We started our initial birthday planning as generic football but then we happened to walk into Party City one day and realized there was an entire aisle that included a ton of Dolphins party supplies and the party morphed into what it was this weekend. What more would you expect from our little Fins Family?? (Okay, we debated between Dolphins and UCF but there was far more Dolphins stuff than UCF.) I found that I didn't do as much do-it-yourself stuff for this party as I might have in the past. Thankfully, the Dolphins party gear picked up where I had to leave off. We have been so busy lately that it made more sense to add those fun homemade touches, but also utilize what is available. Seriously, we know July is a busy month around here but once we added in a birthday in October, it became almost as out of control as July. Anyway, I think we had just enough to make sure that we had the Young stamp on this party. Will had fun and that is all that mattered.
One other thing we had to deal with was having our first party inside the house (Kenzie's was outside) that we did not have the use of our old formal dining room (because it is a playroom now.) So, we had to improvise on some things.
We had our normal hallway table that included our "party favor" which was popcorn dressed up to look like the popcorn you might find at a football game being sold by vendors. That popcorn turned out to be a highlight of the party. It was easy to carry around and we all know kids love popcorn. Props to Publix because it was super yummy. We also included a football for all of Will's friends and family to sign as the "game ball" so he could see who came to celebrate two with him. Turns out, I had to seal it once the party was over to make sure that the writing didn't rub off, but it wasn't difficult and it turned out super cute. We also threw in our uprights that we made for our church's trunk or treat last year (yeah, we had a Dolphins themed trunk...) because we have been holding them for a year and it only seemed appropriate.
We transitioned what is usually our cake table into the food table or "Concession Stand" complete with wings, sandwich stuff, pigs in a blanket, chips, dips, and the whole nine yards. One thing you can always count on at any party we throw is having a ton of food. We are all for our guests coming hungry and tailgating food is one thing we sort of specialize in. We spent many years tailgating before UCF games so we sort of have it down to a science. Being home lets us up the ante too so I think everyone enjoyed the food.
We then used our buffet as the cake table. One thing that initially bothered my Type A-ness was the cake options. Years ago I remember seeing NFL themed cakes at Publix but apparently those don't exist any more. We planned to go with a generic football cake but when Will saw the Mickey Mouse cake, he wanted that. So, despite it not fitting our theme, we made one little boy very happy and got the Mickey Mouse cake. The cake table was decked out as a generic football field including green "grass" as a tablecloth, brown plates to symbolize footballs and (my favorite) yellow and red napkins to serve as penalty flags.
We also included a photo booth this year but it didn't get a ton of use. Everyone just spent time sticking the fingers up their noses and goofing off. Our family and friends are a bit nutty but we love them. We got a fun family photo out of it though so I'm calling it a win.
Everyone seemed to have a great time. Will got a ton of new toys and he is super excited to try out all of them. The memo went out that he likes anything with a motor apparently and he raked in the toy cars, trucks, helicopters, and (his absolute favorite right now) trains in addition to a lot of other nice things. He got one train that he carries with him EVERYWHERE right now. He was one happy camper.
The party was so much fun that we put Will down for his nap late towards the end when everyone was heading out and he napped for almost 3 hours.
So, another fun party down and many more to go. We will see how it all goes next year when we have not only a little girl with huge ideas and opinions but also a little guy that is likely going to want his own theme and will have his own opinions. Each year birthday parties get more and more fun as they understand more of what is going on and invite more and more friends. I can't wait to see what the two of them come up with next year.
Go Dolphins!!!
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