Party ON.

Well, as my loyal friends and followers know, my girls' birthday party was this past Saturday. I am writing about it just now because I have been busy entertaining my mother, who I finally kicked out of my house yesterday morning. Love ya, Mom...but it's nice to be able to walk around naked and not have someone asking me what we're doing for dinner every.single.night.

At any rate, there are a few things you need to know about this party. 1. We chose to do ONE party for BOTH kids. You know why? Well, because it's damn expensive to throw a party, and they're not old enough to know any better. 2. Their birthdays are 3 months apart, well 21 months apart actually. No, they aren't twins of any kind (not Irish, not fraternal, definitely not identical). 3. I have a tendency to go overboard when planning a party. In order to keep me from doing so, Hubby and I decided to move the party away from our residence.

So, we decided to have the party at My Gym. No, not MY gym, like I even have room for that. Or like I'm rich or something and have a fitness center. It's just called "My Gym." It's a kids' fitness center, but that sounds horrible. Every time I drove past this place I kept picturing mini treadmills and mini dumbells and even mini trainers, like elf trainers or something. Don't ask. Anyway, the name is, in my humble opinion, quite deceiving. Really what it is...is this amazing place for your little ones to burn off all kinds of energy without hurting themselves! It is owned by Kendall Robinson, who has just an amazing gift with children. Seriously, I think my kids would play with him until he physically couldn't play any longer. And they listen to him. BONUS!

 

The best part of the entire deal, though, was that we decided to hire a photographer. It was kind of a splurge, in that it's not ordinarily something we would have done. That being said, we knew there would be tons of action, and our cameras just wouldn't be able to keep up with that. I had gotten a recommendation from a friend who was doing a special, so I decided to book her.

It was probably the best decision I ever made, well, maybe second to starting therapy. Anyway, Sarah Neese, of Lillybug Photography captured the memories for us so that we could enjoy the party, socialize with the guests and play with the kids. She knew exactly what we wanted and delivered more than I could have hoped. Even better? She is so hard core that she had just gotten off the road, returning home from her spring break beach trip! Her rate was incredibly reasonable, and she did a far better job than I could have done...Honestly, best.decision.ever.

Of course the favorite part for the kids is always cake, though. I mean, honestly. What's a birthday party without cake?! Well, one of the best parts about my mom visiting was having her help with the party preparations...which was making cupcakes. And since I'm THE Domestic Goddess, you know I can't do anything by the book. So we decided to make pink and purple cupcakes. They looked amazing and tasted even better. We did strawberry flavoring, and I made amazing purple buttercream frosting. And believe me, the kids LOVED them.

At the end of it all, everyone was sufficiently worn out, and it was time to head home. It was seriously the best party EVER, though, and we fully plan to do the same thing next year. This is kind of where my giveaway post was born, since I am big into supporting local business, especially awesome ones. So, if you have a chance, please check it out and enter! You are sure to be as impressed as we were, if not even more!