Amanda's Quick Bite for Healthy Living: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Birthday Party

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Birthday Party

Homemade banner. Aaron put out Ava's 1st birthday picture as a flashback!

The weekend is over and Ava's birthday celebration was so much fun! Tomorrow Ava will turn 2! We hosted some friends on Saturday afternoon and turned out house into a Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star adventure. I picked that theme because it's Ava's favorite song. When she woke up on Saturday morning and saw the starry tablecloth she immediately started singing the song and pointing to the stars. She sings it with all the words pronouncing twinkle as kinkle. We lucked out with amazingly sunny, warm weather for this time of the year.

Balloon garland with stars.

Grandma and Grandpa arrived about mid-morning and as soon as they got there she was excited! Grandma took her to see the neighbor's horses so I used the time to prep for the party. The party was planned after Ava's afternoon nap so she'd be in a good mood and it worked. She had a long nap and woke up naturally as her friends started to arrive.

The birthday girl noshed on dried cranberries and goldfish crackers, fresh from her nap.

I did a lot of prep the week before. I made tamari roasted nuts, tortilla roll-ups, Mexican 7-Layer Dip with homemade refried beans, yellow cake cupcakes with chocolate frosting, and we put out a fruit platter, dried cranberries and goldfish crackers. I wanted to put snacks out that the young kids would enjoy. I made Rice Krispy Treats for adult favors. One of our young guests saw Ava's gifts and was really sad that there weren't any for him. Then it was the perfect time to pull out the kid party favors. I realized why they invented party favors for little kiddos. His tears were all gone and his smile returned.

Aaron printed out a picture from Ava's first birthday ladybug party. It was fun to show how much she's grown in the past year. I told Aaron that we should continue that as annual tradition.

The kids had fun outside in the backyard. They balanced on our retaining walls and followed each other walking in a line. They ran and played out in the sunshine. At one point, I noticed the older kids were playing outside, but Ava wanted to be inside eating a snack. I realized she was at the table with the other two 2-year olds doing the same thing. It was adorable! Dominic, Maddie, and Ava sat together eating snacks with their parents nearby.

It was a low-key day, which was perfect! After our friends left, we did a FaceTime call with Megan, Aaron's sister. Ava and Colin were talking to each other! Our nephew is 4 months older than Ava and since Christmas they have really started to interact and play together. I asked her if she wanted to hug Colin and she reached down to hug the iPad. We'll all be together again next weekend when we drive out to Chicago to see our new niece, Grace, Colin's new baby sister.

This morning, I felt so pampered. As soon as Ava woke up Michele came in to get Ava so I could sleep in! Then Aaron's parents made us breakfast! We had buttermilk pancakes and bacon. Ava has turned into a bacon lover from daycare. They serve bacon every Thursday. We took a walk after breakfast before Mom and Dad B had to leave. Ava loves to ride in the stroller, but she asked to walk. After they left, I started cooking for my freezer meals exchange next weekend. Since we're heading to Chicago I had to finish everything today. Aaron put up Ava's new tree swing that she got from the Pierce's for her birthday. Ava had a blast playing outside with Daddy this afternoon while I cooked.

Here's some pictures from the party!