Sunday, May 23, 2010

Amara's Birthday Party Weekend

What a whirlwind weekend it was! It started with new skates and praticing in the living room...Amara is better than Al right now but part of that is because she doesn't mind falling and getting hurt and Al does.
Then the big news....we unveiled our BOUNCE HOUSE!!!! Yup, it's ours!!!! The kids got it for Christmas from Nana and Grandpa but we left it in Galesburg until the weather got better because we knew the kids wouldn't understand NOT being about to use it. We picked it up at Easter but were saving it for the party weekend. It was well worth the wait!
Saturday evening all the neighborhood kids tried it out as well as the adults- it's awesome!
Mara opened a few gifts Saturday night
Including a cute outfitand her first Barbie and Barbie car....and oh, Amara! The first thing she did was move Barbie's bikini over and point to her boobs and say, " BOOBS" Gotta love her!
Yum Ice Cream!!! ( If only it were Life cereal instead of icecream she could be on the box)
Two happy kids
Thanks Nana and Grandpa for my first Barbie- I love it!!
Nana and Amara have a nice conversation
This morning set up for the party began. My super creative and incredible party planner friend, Cara, made the amazing Sesame Street character cut outs for her daughter's 2nd birthday. She let me borrow them all!!!
We went out early to begin set up and the kids loved meeting all the characters
Super Grover needed a place to hang so the men got to work
Super Grover is happy to be at Amara's Birthday party
The kids at ther party got treat bags and the adults got these candy bars with personalized wrappers
Each one had a personal message in the box. This one was for the kindergarten teacher I work with who gave me the idea of the candy bar wrapper. Thanks Lisa!
Amara loved all the characterrs buit her bond with Elmo was undeniable
Big Bird is even holding a block with the #2 on it!
" Where are your cookies, Cookie Monster?"
" Look at me! I'm SOOOOOO big!!!"

Join is on Amara Street!
Coloring pages and Sesame Street toys were inside when the kids got too hot ( it was 90 degrees today)
A big Elmo ( borrowed from Lisa) watched over the gifts as they arrived.
Grammy and Papa brought a walking Elmo balloon!
Another masterpiece made by Grammy ( see Elmo with the two fingers?)
The yard and bouncehouse
Each table had snacks like
We converted the bean bag toss into Cookie Monster's Cookie toss!
Veronica was SO excited to see Zoe the same size as her!
Jack, June, Mary, and all the other neighbors arrived!
Oscar the Grouch had made a huge mess of garbage all over the yard. The kids were timed over and over and over to see how fast they could get all the garbage into Grouch's can.

Grammy and Mara check out the action
Happy Birthday!
The firepit, with no fire, was the hang out spot for the neighbors
Alaric, V, Alyssa, and Amara enjoy a delicious lunch
Mara was so excited for her cake
She sat perfectly still and watched the lit candles
Although it looks like the look of death, it really was meant to be sweet and turned into a big Cheesy smile
Our service project for her party, and a source of great pride as always was "Big Bird's Nest" The families were asked to bring one of Amara's favorite, non-perishable food items to donate to the Eastern Illinois Food Bank for families in need. Big Bird's nest was overflowing and Amara was so excited to see all her favorite things!
Opening gifts time!!!
SOme of her favorites were an Amara Christine shirt from Aunt Anita, a cabbage patch from Grammy and Papa ( it was mine when I was little) and a crib made by Papa!
Fultons LOVE Sesame Street!
Nana and Grandpa loved being Oscar and Telly
Aunt Anita and Uncle Joe came too! Look how good Anita is on her crutches
Grammy and Papa dressed the part too!
Amara's 2nd Birthday party...our family and our neighbors! What fun!****
Brian and the kids on Saturday night in the bounce house

3 comments:

Kristi said...

That looks like so much fun! What awesome birthday party peeps you are! What a sweet girl that Princess Mara is!

The Buehnerkemper Family said...

That looked like one fun birthday party! Amara is one lucky little girl - I cannot believe she'd 2! WOW! Great job on the party Brian & Katie

Rachel said...

SO CUTE! Loved the theme and what a great photo of Amara on the blog's homepage. I swear the Fulton holidays and birthdays last for weeks/months!! Amara's birthday isn't until June right?!