Party of Two

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That party. Was crazy.

The day started early, and the humidity was high. I was sweating before 8 am. The weather looked dismal, but I managed to keep my shit together when it started sprinkling at 9 am and ran out and threw a tarp over the massive pile of limp, damp canvas in my backyard. The caterer arrived and set up the tents, and I sent my February self a quick 'thank you' for getting those, because they were perfect. My mom, panicked as much as I was, started scrubbing the tray from the bottom of the toaster oven. I ran out to get ice, and shotgunned a Red Bull in the blissful quiet and A/C of my car, my mind racing with the logistics of what still had to be done and what I absolutely didn't want to forget.

Back at the Casa de Cumpleanos the first folks arrived a few minutes before 11, which was perfect, because I was sick of waiting, plus they were people I really, really like. We looked at the sky and decided we were going to hope for the best and up went the bounce house.

It was everything I dreamt it would be, and so much more. And so freaking cool! The thing went up in 3 minutes, was nowhere near as loud as I expected it would be, and was massive. The company I rented it from dropped it off the previous evening, and I wanted to sleep in it. Really, how great would that be?!!!

The totally fantastic cake, designed by my friend and TM'er over at A Sweetshop Named Desire, arrived.
Jenny wanted 'Blue, blue!'. Can you see the details on this thing?! Little flip-flops! PRECIOUS!!
More people arrived and enjoyed the selection of salty snacks. They were also pleasantly surprised by the Canadian beer selection. Hey, it was my party, after all. Jellybean parked in front of the Cheese Doodles and couldn't be budged. Until...

BOOTS!!
The sun peeked through the clouds, and we had a rain-free party!

For those of you cloistered or otherwise totally child-free, Boots the Monkey is Dora the Explorer's bestest buddy. Some of the kids were a little unsure, some lost their minds with excitement, and some ran and hid in the bounce house. Jelly wasn't too sure about him at first, but definitely warmed up...

And was very sad to see him go.
The multi-talented performer came back and did face-painting and made balloon animals, err, creations (I'd never seen a balloon water gun before, but she did it, and made some very happy little boys swords).

The timing of everything was perfect. As a PM I tend to be a little, uh, aware of how things flow and what everyone should be doing and all those good things. The caterers arrived with the food right on schedule, and man, was there a lot of it. After lunch I enlisted Jenny's fan D. to run the cotton candy machine, since I found the whole thing kind of sketch and knew I'd manage to somehow set fire to my house if I was allowed to actually touch it.

SUCCESS!! D. is now a certified carnie.

My friend S. took some BEAUTIFUL pictures of Princess von FattyBottom.

I fulfilled a lifelong dream and stuck my whole hand straight in. I feel it was very environmental of me, since I didn't use a paper cone, right?
Hey, I considered sticking my face in, so this was much more sanitary. At least one kid had to have a sink bath, so I consider the whole thing to have been a major win.

I had a lot of fun. I had so much fun I almost forgot to cut that beautiful cake! Seriously, I was like, 'Holy crap, it's 1 o'clock, I need to focus'. Jelly, like all toddlers, hid under the table and cried while we sang Happy Birthday, and I finally just stripped off her clothes and fed her cake until she begged to go play.

So, for something that could've gone wrong in a million different directions - everything was great. Not perfect, because there were a few hitches that I won't whine about here. But darn near. Most importantly, Jelly and her friends had fun, a few of my friends who I adore and who love and support us had fun, and some of my family could be here to share our day.

And if you think THESE pics are great - I got her 2-year photos done Friday morning. Here's the sneak pic Shannon at Lifelong Impresssions teased me with. Man, these are going to be so freaking awesome, you have no idea. She worked her tail off to get the best of Jelly. I can't WAIT!

I hope you had a Happy 2nd Birthday, Jellybean girl. I love you!

Now mama has to hurry and leave for Boston in 15 minutes to get some sleep.