The Carnival is in Town!

I don't know if I was super excited Milo turned 1 (he does much better as a toddler than a baby) or if I just needed some serious party planning to hold me over until summertime gets here and I have other things to put my energy into. Probably an even mix of both, so we threw Milo a carnival bash for his first birthday! It was so fun and he really loved it! Here is the lowdown:



Decor: lots of balloons and crepe paper of course. I made his "Happy Birthday" banner and one above the door that said "carnival".

We put this tent in the middle of the living room for the kids to play in.

The standard carnival eats: popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs, animal crackers, cupcakes, lemonade, juice boxes.

I even found those yellow and red squirt bottles for the ketchup and mustard! So excited. Those will make an appearance at every BBQ from now on.

The cake: My first big cake adventure. This one was a tiny Milo-size version, but somehow managed to take me 3 hours (or something like that- I blacked out when I started rolling the little balls of fondant). Though fairly imperfect, I think it turned out pretty dang cute.

Milo liked it too. After he got a few bites and realized it was something delicious that doesn't come around too often, he started taking giant handfuls and packing it in. I probably let him eat way too much but hey, he loved it.

The games: I had planned on doing them outside since it had been beautiful 50's all week, but of course it snowed three inches the day before and we ended up doing it in the basement (which is currently under construction...). The kids didn't seem to mind though. All they wanted was bubbles.

The kids averaged about 3 yrs old so the games we had were "Hungry Baby" where you through a ball through Milo's mouth (in blown up picture form), a fishing game, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, and your standard Pick a Duck and win. We also had a clown photo stand, a tattoo booth, and a bubble machine (which was the favorite. Who knew that's all you really need to make kids happy?).

The prize table: bubbles, play dough, suckers, silly straws, crayons, stickers, and glow bracelets.Milo got some fun stuff! Will and I did the opening of the gifts while all the kids played with the new gear.

It was so much fun! I'm so thankful to everyone who came (and missed those who didn't!). At the end of the day the craziness died down and Milo completely crashed. I was glad he had fun during the party and didn't get fussy or scared or anything. He loved it! Happy Birthday little one!