9.30.2012

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Our little man turned one on September 9th and we had a BIG party to celebrate!  Consistent with Jack's first birthday we invited our aunts, uncles and cousins along with the usual family and friends.  Also consistent with Jack's first birthday, we had special guests all the way from Rochester: Aunt Kelly, Uncle Greg and Parker made the trip to celebrate with us!  We were lucky to have perfect weather that day, so we were able to spend most of the party out on the patio.

We decided to do a balloon theme for Charlie's party, and I stuck with primary colors. It was an easy theme and I think the decorations turned out pretty cute.
Balloon wreath - I plan to copy my friend Rebecca's tradition and hang this puppy each time one of us is celebrating a birthday

Balloon display of Charlie's monthly pictures

Balloon banner (idea courtesy of pinterest, specifically: this blog)

The favors: lollipop balloon bouquets from Party City for the big kids;
bags with punching balloons for the 1 and under crowd

I hung these all around the house too: Charlie
cut-outs "holding" foam balloons


The cake(s) - I used a Wilton balloon shaped cake pan
and used licorice for the strings
The highlight of the party was the awesome balloon artist from Premier Entertainment that we hired.  We saw him at a Rascals game earlier this summer and I snagged his card because his ballons are really cool.  The kids each got at least one balloon and they got a kick out of them.  Here are some examples of the creations:
Left to right, from top: Jack's octopus, Reghan's Nemo, Austin and Zoey's frog and turtle, Lily and Mia's ladybug bracelet and Repunzel, Parker's frog, Charlie's rattle, Nathan's octopus, Ethan's Elmo, Allison's lion, Gabe & Garrett's Hulk and Alien hats, Alyssa's personalized creation based on her drawing and Sloan's zebra

Charlie got lots of cool gifts, including lots of Little People sets (farm, garage, airplane, etc), a new trike, a wooden puzzle stool with his name like his brother has, a trailer for our Cozy Coupe car and a really special personalized book from Aunt Kelly et al.

He also put on quite a show with the cake eating.  It turns out the small balloon cakes were perfect size for him to pick up and takes bites, which made for quite a mess.   It was great!







Love the hand prints on the bathtub wall

Here are some other shots from the party.
Our attempt at a family picture

Playing in the ball-filled pool: Aunt Kelly, Parker, Addison, Charlie and Jack

We had some other out-of-towners there too: Ryan from Florida and Kory from Wisconsin!
Greg, Ryan, Jason and Kory
Addi and Jack (with blue lips from the cake icing)

Parker received some presents for her upcoming birthday too -
she kissed each princess as she opened it.  Too cute!

Kelly, Mom and me

This child LOVES watermelon on the rind!


Playing in the yard!

Wrestle mania with Kory
End of the night, playing peacefully in Jack's room: Addi, Jack, Lily and Mia

Mia reading to Jack and Addi
Thank you to all of our friends and family that made Charlie's 1st birthday party so special!!