Birthday #1

Now that I got that off my chest, time to talk about the FUN stuff!

I don't love having two kids with birthdays closely following Christmas (and closely following each other). There is no post-holiday lull around here. When Christmas is over, we rip down the decorations to create the illusion that there is some time between it and Chloe's birthday. When Chloe's birthday is over, we move right into Chinese New Year, and usually DURING the CNY celebration week, Cooper's birthday arrives.

Last year, we were newly home from China, and I was still having day-long headaches. We kept everything to a bare minimum. This year, however, I really wanted to give the parties some attention and make them special in small ways.

When Chloe said she wanted a "Tangled" party, I knew EXACTLY where to turn for inspiration: Rebecca. I've read her blog for a LONG time. Long before either of us brought our children home from China, but recently, I have LOVED her blog for a whole new reason- she provides me with ENDLESS inspiration. These days, I am inspired by her fun, intentional, easy, creative kid-friendly ideas on almost every topic on a near daily basis. Seriously, you should bookmark her blog- you'll be glad you did!

Anyway, when Chloe said she wanted a Tangled party, I remembered Rebecca's post about the Tangled party she threw for her daughter. SO.....I clicked over and had enough ideas to make an AWESOME Tangled party for Chloe. (I'm not going to re-link all her links. If you want to know where I got all my ideas....just head over to Rebecca's post! :) )

First, we made some super-cute party favors. (We spent a couple "Friday Mornings with Chloe" doing these together.)

On the day of the party, we set up a few different stations where kids could have fun. They could be an artist like Rapunzel:

Or they could read a book (or maybe two or three) in the reading area. Scot thought this would go largely unused by party guests. I'm happy to report, it was more popular than coloring! :)

All books chosen by my kids.

We also played "Pin the Nose on Flynn Ryder"- that was the biggest hit of the party!

Of course, the menu also reflected the movie: guests got their drinks, (root) beer of course,  at the "Snuggly Duckling" pub,

we "repurposed" Maximus' favorite treat, apples, by slicing them and offering chocolate and caramel dipping sauces (notice we served them in a frying pan....also Rebecca's idea....genius, I tell you!),

But the biggest hit of the party treat-wise, were the "Boats on the Lake". All the adults loved how they looked, all the kids LOVED how they tasted! :) Score!

My creativity stopped at building a cake tower, but when the woman at the local grocery store said they did not have a "Tangled" themed cake, I wasn't sure what to do. She said, however, that she thought she could make us something we'd really love. She'd seen the movie and was willing to create a design entirely her own if we'd trust her. "Sure thing", we said! She did not disappoint!

All in all, it was a really great day. I enjoyed putting together some creative touches with Chloe to make her party special, and Chloe had a GREAT day!

After this party, I had just enough time to rest up and plan for Party #2. Details coming soon!