A Big Birthday Celebration

McKinley's first birthday came and went very, very quickly. All three of us had some serious recouperating to do post-soiree, so I'm just now writing about the big day. I wanted to be sure that the post reflected just how much fun it was for Cary, McKinley and I. It was so great to see family, friends and neighbors gather together to celebrate 'The Big 1" with us.

First of all...let's just talk about the weather for a second. I don't know WHERE such a gorgeous, non-humid, non-sweltering day came from in Indiana in the middle of July but it certainly was welcome, if not down right unheard of. We can only hope/wish/pray that each year is just as beautiful for our boy and his parties.

Just before the party got started a giant, blue castle arrived in our back yard. It matched our Little Prince theme perfectly! It sure was a sight watching that thing expand and reach high into the sky. I am sure all the children enjoyed it, and I think a few of the adults got a little thrill in the jumping throw back to their childhood too...self included. Ha ha! Though, I certainly do not remember the jumping causing an instant head rush as a child...perhaps that's due in part to aging???

Everyone was invited to the make-your-own-crown/tiara station, I didn't see as many adult crowns as I'd hoped though...hahaha, just kidding! All the kids did such a great job on their little works of art. And on their way out we had treat bags complete with a 'grow your own' castle or rubber ducky, some glow sticks, star erasers and a hand clapper noise maker (bet those were noisy rides home...sorry parents...didn't think about that). Each of the kids also got chocolate-dipped, crown-shaped rice crispy treats that I made. Those were fun for me! I haven't made rice crispy treats in a very long time, probably since I made them with my Mom and Grandma actually. That smell of melting marshmallows brought back so many wondeful memories of my childhood.

After everyone was finished eating it was quickly time for CAKE! So, we got McKinley dressed in his cake outfit, complete with birthday crown, lit the candles and sang. He dug into his cake and got icing E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E. It was in his hair, in his NOSTRILS, in my hair, on Cary's face, on our clothes...heck, we're still finding it in all of the little nooks and crannies of the high chair! Mmmm, the cake was so yummy, McKinley especially liked it between his fingers. That was the best part of the whole day! He got so 'into' his cake that we took him straight to the tub.

Once we were finally done cleaning McKinley up, we started opening presents. It's too bad some of our guests had to leave early because McKinley really started to get into the package opening and LOVED playing with his new goodies. He got some really great stuff!

Eventually, the castle came down and the three of us headed inside for the night. McKinley slept like a little log that night and had some extra long napping the following day.
I know he had such a wonderful time.
We hope all our guests did too.

Lynn