space party for connor

we did it. we had connor's first birthday party. oh my gosh. there was a serious mad dash to get this one ready in time. i usually have a glass of champagne while i am setting up for a party but there was no time for champagne. i was running around like a crazy person hanging decorations, setting up drinks and plates, cooking, and cleaning. we were still putting out the table decorations when people started arriving. i had trouble making up my mind whether to set up the tables inside or outside. we went with outside and it was a good choice. it didn't rain and even got a bit sunny.

we had a ton of people at this party. we like to make a big deal for the first birthday and invite all our friends and relatives. it was fun to have everyone over. we did a space/rocket theme. we tried to keep the decorations simple but for some reason everything took us a very long time to make.

we made papier mache planets that we painted and hung over the dining table. this was an insanly long project that i blogged about here. we also painted wood rockets for the table tops and i sewed a birthday banner just like the banners i made for mason and dahlia. to entertain the kids we made bean bag toss game. miles constructed the bean bag board out of wood and painted it while i sewed the bean bags from this adorable rocket fabric. we also set up a craft station where the kids could color robots and rockets or make a door hanger with their name on it. i don't think we put the craft station in the right place. there were not very many kids that did the crafts. they were too busy running around and playing.

we had tons of food. my sister came over thursday and we made lasagnas. we had four different types: veggie, beef, turkey, and a mushroom lasagna with a cream sauce. we also had an antipasto platter, spinach artichoke dip, green salad, fruit salad, and buttered noodles for the kids. it was a feast.

miles and i made the cake. we were going to order a cake but our favorite bakery portos does not make whip cream icing any more. ugh. they let us down so we decided to just make our own. we made a yellow cake shaped like a rocket. this was so last minute that i really didn't have any idea how to decorate it. i ran out of time to do any fancy piping on it. at the last moment i decided to make white chocolate letters spelling connor's name on the top. i think it worked out pretty good. it could have been better but really i was just glad to have something to serve.

connor loved his cake. he was so excited to eat it. i think he had a great time at the party. he loves lots of attention. after most of the guests had left we let mason and dahlia open his gifts and play. miles and i agreed to babysit for jen, ray, and christina so bodhi and zena stayed the night while their parents went to a halloween party. it was a party weekend. thank you so much to all my helpers and all our guests. it was a really great celebration.