Party of EIGHT: Two Birthdays, One Big Bash

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Two Birthdays, One Big Bash

At the end of August we had two big birthdays to celebrate. Rose turned one year old on August 22nd and just two days later Owen turned eight! Owen wanted none other than a dinosaur party (for the 5th year in a row!!) And for Rose's 1st birthday, it was butterflies and lots of PINK! The big fiesta fell on Rose's actual birthday. We were blessed that most of our family could be there to celebrate the special day.

Owen's love of dinosaurs has been going strong for several years. I think we've gone through every dinosaur party theme available. Luckily for Owen, this year (thanks to the release of the movie Jurassic World) there was a new set of dinosaur party supplies. He couldn't have been happier to have terrifying meat-eating dinos displayed throughout the house.

Along with the dinosaur theme, this year Owen wanted a volcano cake. I'm a newbie when it comes to cake decorating so it was definitely a bit of a gamble trying to replicate a cake that I had found a photo of on Pinterest. Once I had the cake baked and covered with brown fondant, Owen exclaimed, "It looks like dinosaur dung!" At least it was in the realm of prehistoric time!

We had picked out the perfect dinosaurs to go with the cake, and in the midst of the double party chaos, it completely slipped my mind until after we had sung happy birthday and he had blown out the candles. At least I remembered before we cut the cake!

The excited birthday boy

Blowing out his candles

A photo with his dinosaurs

The other side of the house was decorated just for Rose to celebrate her 1st birthday! How is she one year old already?!?

Rose's cake was also inspired from Pinterest. It seemed like a great idea to keep with the pink and gold theme like her decorations. But trying to make gold fondant circles the night before the big party was much more challenging (and stressful) than anticipated.

I attempted to get a photo with Rose and her cake...without her touching it, which proved to be a nearly impossible task! We set the cake on the coffee table with her on the opposite side and of course, she kept moving around the table to get to the cake. There was no stopping her (she's a very determined little girl!), so instead we opted for a family photo which in itself is quite the challenge with 3 little ones.

Soon it was time for lunch. Owen inhaled his favorite pizza and strawberries.

Cousins Jaden and Casey with Owen and Cole

Rose got to try pizza and strawberries for the first time. She loved eating big girl food!

"Hmmm....this is pretty good."

"I sure am getting big."

"Woo-hoo! I'm one today!!"

Presents were a big hit and a bit overwhelming with twice the normal amount. Owen thought it best to alternate opening gifts. Of course, he went first!

"Just what I wanted!!"

Rose thought her presents were great! Just perfect for crawling on top of!

The kids loved ripping open all their gifts.

Next on the agenda - cutting the cakes. Owen thought his cake was mighty tasty!

Time to eat cake!

"This is DELICIOUS!"

"Ummmm....cake."

For Rose's birthday I made her a little pink smash cake for her to dig into. She was supposed to wear her cute little birthday hat while she had her cake, but of course I forgot (whoops!) She still looked adorable in her headband which she usually rips out right after putting it on her head, but with all the festivities she had forgotten it was on. Rose wasn't sure what to do with her cake at first, but eventually realized it was meant to be eaten.

"What's everyone looking at?"

"You're kidding. I'm supposed to eat this?"

"This is pretty good."

"What do you mean, there's something on my face?"

"Yummm...more cake."

"I am exhausted."

"I love cake!!"

She was so tired after dessert that she snuck away from the party to clean up and catch some beauty rest. A couple hours later she was well rested and ready to PAR-TAY!! The birthday kids spent the rest of the day playing with their new toys. And I even got a few pictures of Rose in her birthday hat.