Our little man turned two this last week. Hard to believe. Luckily the day came and went and I didn’t go into labor, so he is safe from having to share his birthday with his soon-to-join-us brother. Although they will probably have joint parties for years to come. Sorry, boys.
When it came time to plan his party, I knew I was going to be ridiculously pregnant, so I wanted to make it as easy as possible on myself. At first I thought we would just go out to eat at a local restaurant and invite some friends, but I knew that could get expensive. Then I came up with the genius idea to have the ice cream truck from our favorite small-town ice cream shop, Sweet Cow, come to the house and throw an ice cream birthday party. I decided to make it a water play party too, which meant everyone would hang out in the front yard and I wouldn’t have to clean my house all that much before OR after the party – huzzah! It also meant that the theme of the party was pretty much taken care of by the ice cream truck and I wouldn’t have to kill myself doing all kinds of crafty things (though I could have, and usually do).
This is probably the least I have ever done in terms of party prep. It was no Pinterest party, and I am sooooo okay with that. I simply prepared a small food spread since the party was right after lunch and ice cream was on its way.
I also put together an easy “Happy Birthday” banner using this product in my shop and some fabric strips. I made the invitation, of course, (pictured above) and some favors for the kiddos, which consisted of colorable postcards with a retro ice cream theme and a little packet of crayons. And that was it.
I thought this was going to be awesome.
And then I saw the forecast. We are in June, right? Summer is just around the corner, right? Well after a week of 80 degree temperatures, we had rain in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday. I tried to remain hopeful since our weathermen are consistently wrong and where we live we don’t see a ton of rain. As we began setting up for the party, the rain started pouring down, tornado warnings flashed across the TV and the wind picked up. So much for my water party.
My mood was less than upbeat, despite my husband trying to snap me out of it. All I saw was mud on the floors and a house full of people who we didn’t really have room for. Waa waaaa.
After all my sulking, I think God felt bad for me. People began to trickle in slowly and just as we were getting crowded, the rain stopped and the sun came out. We all trekked outside to play with balls, chalk, a little fishing game in the pool and whatever else I could find to keep the kids busy, just as the ice cream truck drove up with its happy music playing loud. Saved by ice cream!
I breathed a sigh of relief. It took about 45 minutes, but the party was finally what I had hoped for. The kids shouted in excitement as the MooMobile pulled into the driveway.
Lincoln was pretty excited too.
For the next hour we all ate, chatted and thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine – which, by the way, disappeared as soon as the party ended and the rain picked up again. Thank God for our little window of sunshine!
It ended up being a great afternoon spent with friends. I told my husband that all the fuss is always worth it when I see the look on my child’s face as everyone sings “Happy Birthday” to them. I think that is always my favorite moment of each of their parties. I always try and snap a photo of it so I can remember the joy and love they felt on that day. Those are the moments that make being a mom so special!