US Japan Fam

Our Winter ONEderland First Birthday Party

1/8/2014

Stressful? Yes. Wonderful and memorable and lots of fun? YES! Our Winter ONEderland triple first birthday party went off without a hitch, well, for the most part!

As I mentioned in my previous post, Gymboree only gives you 15 minutes of set-up time. So it was a challenge to say the least but we had about 10 adults to get it done - a few were on babysitting duty and the rest were unpacking and climbing ladders and taping and arranging like mad! But we totally pulled it off, phew! Check out our party room spread (vender credits at bottom of post):

After setting up, it was time to PLAY! We had just over 15 babies/kids in attendance and it was a zoo, but made me realize there was NO way we could have done it at one of our teeny tiny Brooklyn homes. Despite the minimal setup time allotted, it was really nice to have it at a play gym where the kids could go wild and we didn't have to worry about them breaking our stuff! The parachute and bubble session at the end of the party was definitely my fave - the kids were loving it, and I was loving that ^_^

The party room was a bit tight when it came time to chow, but we managed!

Oh my, could we look any more disheveled? haha! But how cute are our little ones sitting in their big kid chairs ready to (let their mama's) blow out the candle!

Here is our amazing cake, nothing short of a piece of art! Made with love by Theresa of Grandma's Heavenly Goodies in Bay Ridge. The gorgeous masterpiece before, and the hideous butchered aftermath! LOL!

We had to get a group shot at the end, and were able to corral most of the babies. These mama's (Bay Ridge Baby Mamas) have been in our lives since Kenzo was about 3 months old, it's so cool to watch them all grow and start to become more interactive and play together! I know some will move out of the nabe, booooo, but it'll be cool to see who stays and which kids remain friends into their elementary school days and beyond!! Can you imagine if Kenzo ends up marrying one of these little ladies in 25 or 30 years!?!?!

Cleanup was a bear, but it actually went really quickly! But look at the amount of presents!! Wooooohooooooooooo!! We have some awesome friends!! Well, those are for 3 babies, but still! We ended up having to take a taxi home because we couldn't carry everything! Still haven't gotten around to opening up anything yet, will do it this weekend so daddy can enjoy seeing Kenzo's excitement! Good think we're moving to a bigger place in a couple of months! Turns out a toddler needs bigger (and more) toys...

So how'd we do it? Who did we use and recommend?? Here's my list:

Save the Date, Invites, & Welcome sign courtesy of beccagoldrubin DESIGN

Cake courtesy of Grandma's Heavenly Goodies

Birthday Suit & Hat courtesy of Little Stitchin Lu

Birthday Banner courtesy of Paper Heart Company

Snowflake Pom Poms courtesy of The Shower Planner

White snowflake cupcake wrappers courtesy of Crafty Grandma 17316

Mini blue snowflake cupcake wrappers and drink stirrers (which I used for the fruit shish kebabs) courtesy of Dill Pickle Picnic

Glitter felt snowflakes and snowflake table confetti courtesy of Pear Creek Cottage

Everything else we got from Party City!

A BIG BIG BIG kudos goes out to my fellow party planning moms - they worked so hard, created some awesome food / art, and helped me get through this monumental event without too much emotional trauma! Thank you Rose & Shira - I love you girls!!! ^_^