Sammy's First Birthday Party

Apologies for the walk down memory lane the past few posts. However, as Sammy is now accomplishing big boy feats such as walking backward on command, stacking wooden rings, and shooting hoops (okay - he's only made two actual baskets and otherwise shows absolutely zero interest in my new favorite toy), I wanted to document his first birthday party sometime before he is old enough to drive.

James and I hosted Sammy's birthday party on a gorgeous but insanely hot Saturday, the weekend before he actually turned one. I feared it would be a typical sweaty July day, and I wasn't disappointed. Regardless, we still planned on having much of the party outside. After all, we had just refurbished our patio! As such, the decor and activities all centered around the outdoors. 

I didn't want much of a theme, but I did try to coordinate the colors and patterns of everything. I fell in love with the colors of this cheery and summery striped straw mix and kind of went on from there. I love stripes and polka dots, and thus followed suit with polka dot balloons, polka dot napkins, polka dot paper accents, and striped table runners, which I ironed with hem tape sewed just days before the party.

I've made no secret of my distaste for crafting, craft stores and all things craft-related. (Primarily as I'm just not good at crafting.) But I was quite proud of the photo project above, featuring a handful of my favorite pictures from each month of his first year. I had so much fun picking out pictures, and it was a nice way to reminisce and appreciate how far he / we had come since the day he was born. 

I also had fun picking out some fun summer-ish favors for all the kids that attended the party. A few weeks prior to the party, my five-year-old nephew Patrick put the pressure on for good favors. I hope I didn't disappoint him too much!

We didn't get too many pictures of the food, but I tried to keep things easy and kid-friendly. Fruit skewers (pictured above), chips, mini (polka dot) cups of goldfish, sandwiches and wraps from our local grocery store, and at least three side salads, of which type now escapes me.

My mom and sister baked a ton of cupcakes (the flags that adorn the cupcakes were another craft project, tolerated only through multiple episodes of Real Housewives), and I made a dirt dessert trifle. Probably not something I'd ordinarily admit to being part of my repertoire, but I figured it would be a crowd pleaser.

But enough about the details, of which Sammy could have cared less about. Here are some of the action shots.

We set up a couple baby pools, a water table and a slip-and-slide, which kept the kids (and Sammy) mildly entertained.

After a brief mid-party nap, the birthday boy was ready for his birthday (cup)cake.

He was a bit unsure of what to do at first. What was the entire cupcake doing in front of him?

The frosting was deemed a success. Not pictured - the demolition of the remainder of the cupcake.

Also not pictured - the glop of dirt dessert someone put down in front of Sammy upon the completion of his cupcake. Dirt dessert = also a success.

Overwhelmed at the mess that had become my birthday boy, we decided to just strip him down and dunk him in one of the pools. (I wore an apron so as to not get my dress wet. Don't ask.)

After the cake festivities, most of us moved into the central air where Sammy opened many a fantastic present. (Including this big boy backpack from his Auntie Kate!)

All in all, it was a fantastic day. (And one that ended with a very early bedtime for this big one-year-old!)