Luke's Party Recap

Luke had his first birthday party yesterday and everything went swimmingly. And by swimmingly I mean Steven spilled 2 gallons of lemonade on the way to the car, I banged my knee on a picnic table and I dropped Luke's home made smash cake as I took it out of the cooler. Fortunately Steven was at the grocery store at that very moment - buying replacement lemonade - so he was able to get a store bought, ie not as awesome Smash Cake #2.

Luckily all that DRAMA happened before the guests arrived and the rest of the party went off without a hitch. Luke got lots of presents, but my Type A side was pleased that they were a good blend of books, toys, books and practical stuff. I was dreading we'd get 15 LOUD TOYS WITH BATTERIES and nothing else.

All the kids had fun playing on the playground...


... while some of the adults had fun doing.. whatever the hell it is we're doing here.

pictured: me, my mother-in-law S, our family friend E, my twin soul B
not pictured: my dignity

But enough embarrassment, let's talk party details. Since the party invitations were simple and pseudo retro with lots of red that became the theme of the party.


I grabbed these checkered tablecloth inspired plates and napkins from a dollar store. I though they helped carry the theme without being too on the nose. I also got some red and white balloons and crepe paper to give the picnic shelter some old-school flair. I didn't take any pictures of the shelter because I was too busy running into tables and dropping cakes.


Luckily I didn't drop the main cake because if I had you would have heard me crying from wherever it is you live. Isn't it cute in a 50's-housewife-made-it sort of way? I baked the layers and made the icing, but Brettany did all of the decorating. Didn't she do a terrific job with the cake?


Speaking of cake, let's all watch Luke eat his. He's not actually naked, I just stripped him down to his diaper to keep the onslaught of icing from staining his clothes. Also, he just learned to clap a few days ago so every time someone clapped at him he clapped too. Adoarble.

Yay cake!

Can I touch it?

cake: the aftermath
"Good call on the naked baby" - pretty much everybody

We really enjoyed hosting the party and Luke had fun playing with the other kids and chowing down on some "grown up" food: barbeque, beans and hush puppies.

And just for fun here's a video of Luke really, really enjoying some balloons.