Maxs 2nd Birthday Party- A Carnival!!!

Wow...I can't believe it has already been 2 years since I brought this sweet, sweet boy in to this world! It only took 18 hours of excruciating labor but who's counting?! It was well worth it of course, as every mother would say! And I had an absolute BLAST planning this 2nd birthday party for him.

I had decided on a Carnival theme a LONGGGG time ago! Probably right after his 1st birthday party. I really like to plan VERY far in advance, which makes it cheaper, and gives me way more time to collect awesome stuff to go with the theme.  The main stores I hit up when in search of birthday party or any celebration would be Big Lots, Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, and lastly the Party Supply. I try my hardest to not just pick a theme that you can just go buy a package at the party store with everything in it (plates,cups,decorations). I just find it more fun to have to search and piece things together myself, or even better, MAKE things myself!

Thank GOD for my amazing fiance' for his design/fabrication abilities! He actually BUILT a lot of things for this party: pallet table, small table/crates for games, face cut outs to stand behind for photos! It really MADE the party! So thank you, thank you my love!

The food we served I kept pretty close to the carnival theme! We started our party around noon knowing that we would serve everyone lunch! Our menu was: hotdogs, pasta salad, cut up watermelon and canteloupe, popcorn, pirates booty, pretzels, chips, animal crackers, cotton candy, circus peanuts, and some fun candies too! Everything was a hit! The kids sucked down juice boxes and the adults lemonade and iced tea! It was an amazing 80 degree weather day in Seattle which was just perfect!

We made some really fun (toddler do-able) games for everyone to play! We were drinking single serving blood orange san pellegrino for weeks saving the bottles! There was a "Ring Toss", "Goldfish Toss", "Knock Em Down", and "Pin the Nose on the Clown". The games were all basically bottles on top of one the table/crates Dustin made and using things we already had (including all the Pellegrino bottles!)  The kids loved it, and everyone took home a "pet goldfish" on their way out the door!

And of course, whats a Carnival Party without a BOUNCEY HOUSE?! I debated on this for a good amount of time. Was it worth the money? Would Max be too scared to use it? Would other parents hate me or sue me if their kid got hurt? After much deliberation I decided to go for it! I figured worst case scenario it wouldn't get used as much as Id hoped. And I made sure little tots went in alone and bigger kids alone. We had an age range of about 18 months-7 so it was definitely important for some separation there. And let me tell you...Max would NOT get out that thing! It was well worth the $140 for sure. I would do it every year now!

Overall this party was so much fun to plan, so much fun to be in the middle of;watching all of the kids and parents laugh and play. I had a blast planning and hosting. I think everyone had a really great time which is the most important, and Max had SO MUCH fun with all of his friends!

Thanks everyone for coming!
And YES, I do have next years theme already chosen! HA!

XOXOX,
Cotton Candy Eatin Mumma