This past weekend we had Brinleigh's Birthday Party / Our going away party, even though she doesn't turn 2 for another couple of weeks. But, we have A LOT going on these last two weeks in Sitka and we get on the ferry the day after her actual Birthday so we had to do it early. The same as last year, I have been planning this party for a few months and spent hours and hours making the decorations. And, as always, I went a tad bit overboard. I have really enjoyed planning her parties and being able to make everything myself these last two years so that they are very unique and authentic. I only hope that when we get to Florida I will still have the time to continue this tradition.
I went with a baby bird theme this year and of course used Pinterest to plan it all out. The weather hasn't been that great lately and it was cloudy and raining on and off the day of the party. So, Kolt spent the majority of the day putting up tarps in the backyard so that we had a large covered area for our guests.
Our wonderful friends, Kate and Cooper, came over early to help Kolt with the tarps and to help me decorate and get everything set up. Thank God for them!
A few of the decorations that I used were from Brinleigh's First Birthday party, like the wreath on the front door and the glitter "Happy Birthday Brinleigh" banner. I made all the little felt birds myself and had Kolt and Cooper collect the tree branches for me. I ordered the birdhouses from hobby lobby and then painted them and added some lace and pearl decals.
For treats, of course I HAD to make my white chocolate covered pretzels
and added some sprinkles. At Easter time I stocked up on peeps and also
bought a giant bag of whoppers that looked like bird eggs. ( I told
you I've been planning this party for months!) I made peeps on a stick
and filled an extra large mason jar with the whoppers. I also made some
colored chocolate lollipops using a birdhouse mold that I ordered from hobby
lobby.
I made Brinleigh her own smash cake and then also a larger birthday cake for everyone else. Her smash cake was a three layer strawberry cake (boxed cake mix) with cream cheese frosting (from a can). I used a cookie cutter in the shape of a 2 and filled it with sprinkles on top of her cake and then I literally tossed handfuls of sprinkles all the way around the sides of the cake. Such a mess! The large cake was a confetti cake (boxed cake mix) with a butter cream frosting that I made from scratch and then dyed pink. I used the same "Happy Birthday" cake topper that I made for her first birthday party.
We grilled up hot dogs and some deer burgers and then fried up some fish the Kate and Cooper brought over. I found a delicious pasta salad recipe on pinterest and made that along with some baked beans and bought some potato salad. A lot of our guests brought side dishes as well so we had a ton of food.
Brinleigh got a few gift cards which will be spent on new clothes or fun water toys once we get to Florida and she also got a few cute summer outfits with two new pairs of sunglasses.
For most of the party, half the guests were outside and the other half inside, so when it came time to sing Happy Birthday to Brinleigh we had everyone pile into the house. Brinleigh just stared at all the people standing in front of her and she did not know what to think about it. After Kolt and I blew out her candles I stuck her hand into her cake and she immediately started crying. She was not happy at all about having cake all over her hands. Once I wiped them off and gave her a fork she was as happy as can be eating her strawberry cake.
Kolt and I were very happy with how the party went and Brinleigh had a great time running around with all the kids and playing. I love watching how excited she gets and hearing her squeal and laugh when she is playing with them.
Thank You to everyone who came to the BBQ to celebrate Brinleigh's 2nd Birthday and to hang out one last time before we are off this rock!
