Liam's Second Birthday: Liam's Favorite Things

Last weekend we celebrated Liam's second birthday. Planning this party was much different from Liam's first.  My husband and I came up with the theme of "Liam's favorite things" about a month prior to the date.  Yes, only a month.  Regardless of the late decision, we wanted to give Liam a day filled with all of his favorites- toys, food, and people.  What better place to have it then, than his grandparent's house?  Liam loves his Nonnie and Papa's house more than his own home.  I swear we have tons of stuff to do here, but he loves to explore their gardens, run through their large yard, hide under the willow tree, chill by the pool, point at fish in the pond, and relax on the swing.  Boy heaven!

  

My parents were generous enough to provide the space and the majority of the food.  We bought tons of pool and water toys, bubbles, balls, balloons, and other outdoor fun stuff.  Even a few of his gifts supported his hobbies- a water table, a basketball hoop, and a new car.  These were all set up and presented to him prior to the party so that not only Liam could enjoy, but everyone else could as well.  

The food was simple and delicious.  Basic picnic food was served including Liam's absolute favorite: macaroni and cheese.   For dessert my mom made dozens of cupcakes in a variety of flavors: key lime pie, blueberry cheesecake, mocha, and chocolate raspberry.  She's a fantastic cupcake baker.  To top it all off we served an ice cream buffet since Liam (and myself) are huge fans of those sweet frog/froyo type places. 

Favors for the children included a ball, bubbles, a fun straw, and play dough, which are just a few of Liam's most favorite play things.  Unfortunately though, many of the children never even received these gifts since I did not remember to give them out until more than halfway through the party.  Major fail.     

Although that was definitely a screw up, I feel like the party went extremely well.  The pool kept most of the kids occupied, lime-a-ritas and/or strawberry-ritas kept the adults relaxed, and Liam was surrounded by his favorite things and the people that he enjoys the most.  He had a blast.  So did we.   

4 more days until the real birthday!