Happy Birthday Drew!!!

This weekend we celebrated Drew's 2nd birthday. We had such a good time. He was so happy and enjoyed every minute.

On Friday, I made home-made cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles and brought them to Drew's class. They sang happy birthday to him while enjoying a cupcake. Drew's teacher commented how much better these were compared to the store-bought variety. I agree.

This year we decided to invite just a few people and have it at a local park/playground. We invited a little girl from his class, Ella. Apparently, he and Ella are inseparable at school. When Ella was having a hard time with her mom dropping her off in the mornings, Drew gave her hugs. It is all very sweet. She's a doll. Her mom also happens to be a high school counselor at a local high school - so we have that in common. We also invited Jacob and his parents. He is Mr. Social. My good friend Mandy and her husband Patrick came. And, then, of course, my brother Chris and his family were able to come a little late, but it worked out perfectly.

The only hard part about the planning was that there are only two small pavillions for people to use. You cannot reserve them. It's first come first serve, so I thought that getting there at 10:15 or 10:30 would be plenty of time, but apparently I was wrong. Some people were having a birthday party and had claimed one of the areas. Then the other area was being claimed by some bikes and water bottles. I asked Mike to go find who was using that second one and beg them to move. He found them....and politely asked if we could have the table and they obliged. It was very nice of them!! My stress level went down signifcantly once we secured a location for the party :) [drink box #1].

It was an absolutely beautiful day. Windy and sunny. Clear skies with a high of 93. Everyone arrived a bit late, but that was fine because once the little kiddos began showing up Drew's face just brightened up. He was so excited to see his friends [drink box #2].

They played on the playground, enjoyed the swings and slides - then came over to our table to enjoy some pizza [drink box #3]. Drew, Ella, and Jacob didn't really want to eat pizza because they were too busy enjoying the ice in the cooler. They ate it, threw it, sucked on it, put it back in the cooler, etc. They had a ball with the ice [drink box #4]. All three really love ice and, of course, their wonderful parents don't let them play with ice often - so they had a ball in the cooler. Instead of buying expensive gifts - everyone should have just brought a bag of ice to play with. After lunch, Drew opened his presents. He loved all of them. He got a backpack full of Go Diego Go blocks, Wonder Pets book, Thomas the Train book, Large Barney stuffed animal, small Barney that sings the I love you song, a little people wagon, a soccer ball, a curious george book, bubbles, Barney DVD, and a few other items. He and the kids kicked the ball all over the place on a big open field. Then, we rounded them up for cake [drink box #5].

Drew's cake was a Sesame Street cake complete with Grover and Elmo in a plane landing on a runway. He loved that part. The cake was delicious. After cake, the kids played some more, then we packed up to go home.

Chris, Lauren, Smyth & Seth all came back to our house. It was nice to have them there, not only for the company, but also to help unload the car...BONUS. We hung out for the afternoon and made plans for our trip to Philadelphia next September. My sister is getting married next year and we all sat around and talked about how we can't for the trip.

They went home around 3:30ish and Drew continued to play. No naps on the birthday. I couldn't believe he made it to 6pm without a nap and was completely happy the entire time. He is definitely growing up. We read a few books before bed, one of which was called "On the Night You were Born". He could not keep his eyes open and was out cold before I ever put him in his bed. Oh, it was so sweet. If he could just stay this age forever. I am loving this age.

Just one more side note: Don't let the cubs hat fool you, Drew is a Sox fan all the way. I think Grandma had finally seen enough pictures of Drew in his Cubs hat and sent him a Sox hat for his birthday. Thanks Grandma! but Drew gets attached to his clothing, and on Saturday it was either his Cubs hat, or no hat. We'll work on the switch later.

Sunday morning, after watching an episode or two of Barney in bed, we put on our shoes (while still in our PJs) and headed out to the back porch to try out Drew's new bubble maker. Drew also had one more gift to open from Mom and Dad. A Thomas the Train power wheels. For anyone who doesn’t have kids, power wheels are small "go carts" that achieve amazing speed and power with amazingly small motors and batteries. They are real engineering feats. But anyhow, after one short ride, Drew decided he liked his old-fashioned push car that Grandma and Pa gave him for his first birthday better (thanks Grandma!) and promptly gave his new Thomas the Train power wheels to Ollie. We saw this coming, but took the chance anyway.

Overall it was a great birthday, full of smiles and good memories. A success! I cannot believe my baby is 2..... wow. And, if you were wondering: His favorite gift was...Barney.