Luke Turns 2!

Luke's birthday isn't for another 2 days, but we had his party yesterday. It was so much fun! I'll let the pictures tell the story...

 For the entertainment we put out our bouncy castle and hooked up the water hose to make it a water slide. The kids had a blast! We couldn't have asked for a better party!

some were better at it than others

Instead of regular party favors we gave each of the kids some pirate gear to wear at the party and then take home. I didn't know if the kids would keep the bandanas on, but several of the boys wore them the whole afternoon - and Luke requested to wear his again today so I suppose they were a big hit! Even better, all the pirate gear (and his invitations) came from the Dollar Spot at Target so they didn't break the bank either.

bandanas, swords, hook hands

the pirate captain modeling all the gear

We served barbecue and hush puppies from a local restaurant and I make pirate ship cupcakes for dessert. I opted for cupcakes over a more traditional birthday cake because last year it felt like it took me ages to cut and hand out cake slices, so I chose to keep it simple. Plus I fell in love with the idea of a little fleet of pirate ship cupcakes.

the most menacing cupcakes ever to sail the seven seas

frosting mustache

At the 11th hour we changed the venue from our house to Luke's great-grandmother's house because her yard was better suited for the party set-up. I made a sign for our front door just in case our guests forgot where to go. Normally I avoid the Blackadder font like the plague but I made an exception for the party. It is very pirate-y.

I love pirate speak

Luke still doesn't grasp the idea of birthdays or parties yet, but he knows darn well what presents are. Here he is having the best time with a new polo shirt from his Granddad.

His gift from us was a LeapPad. I wasn't sure he would have any idea what it was - he's never played with one before - but the look on his face tells me he knew exactly what it was. Now he can stop stealing Daddy's iPad!

I can't believe he's 2 already! For comparison, here he is on his last 2 birthdays.

Luke, age 0

Luke, age 1

Where did my baby go? He's certainly no baby now, but a full grown little boy! *sniffle*