Party Animals

I am still in complete shock that Ryder turned two this weekend. How did this happen? Before he was even born I had a vision in my head what his first birthday party would look like. And in reality it turned out to be even better than I imaged! When it came time to start deciding on a plan for his second birthday, I felt more overwhelmed and couldn't make a decision to save my life. After watching him closely and showing him different ideas, we have finally decided on a theme. Originally we were going to throw a big circus train party. Mostly because he is obsessed with the Disney movie Dumbo. But slowly more of the focus has been drawn to the animals on the show. While his favorite part of the movie is the train, I didn't want to have the theme become all about trains. He practically received nothing but train toys as gifts. We invited a smaller crowd than his first birthday. A few friends and family to keep it fun.

I found these free printable note cards and chose to use them as the invitations. I love how simple the images are and how the colors do not take over but instead pop out. Ryder loves the prints so much that he has decided to keep the extra invitations for himself. To print them, I downloaded the free prints and took them into Staples. They printed them on card stock for $25.

I'm so glad that I chose to keep his cake simple. I saw so many cute and colorful ideas on Pinterest but I wanted to keep it simple and bright to match the invitations. I made tiny party hats from paper and mini pom poms and hot glued them onto plastic animal figurines for a cake topper and decorations. A party isn't a party without balloons! Ryder loved the zebra and tiger balloons! My favorite were the confetti balloons! A few streamers and banners from the dollar spot at Target and we were all set for the party.

confetti balloons || zebra + lion balloons

I wanted to keep the food and treats simple, just like the decorations. I made a small white cake for most of the adults and so that Ryder could blow out his candles. Ryder isn't a fan of cake so I knew that I wanted to have a special treat that he loved. And since Ryder's favor treat is ice cream cones, that was the perfect birthday treat! Turns out that everyone was a fan of the ice cream bar! What's not to love about 3 different flavors of Edy's Frozen Custard, sprinkles, chocolate syrup, and waffle cones?

Ryder had a blast and that's all that matters in the end. Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate! Now here are more pictures of the party animals.

 

Thank you to all who came and helped us celebrate two years with our little guy! He had so much fun!