Surf Celebration.
When you're throwing a birthday party in the middle of the midwest..the obvious theme choice is Surfing...obviously. LOL. I don't know why I became so obsessed with a surf theme, but Asher was like 2 months old when I started planning his Surfs Up 1st Birthday. You know me, I get really swept up in these kinds of things...
You might remember from my post in May, but we had a small celebration for Asher on the day of his actual birthday, but because we'd be in KC for a family wedding in June, we thought it would be fun to celebrate in a bigger way. Did our 1 year old ask for a big birthday bash...lol. No. Will he remember his big birthday bash...No. But we (yes, hubs, I said WE!) thought it was an awesome reason to get our family and friends together - especially those that we haven't seen or talked to very much since moving abroad. [But PS. I don't think you really NEED any of these reasons to throw a big 1st bday bash. If ya wanna, do it :) ]
I've thrown a bajillion parties & showers at our house in KC, so it made planning way easier when my mom said she wanted to host A's bday -- for those who don't know she's actually keeping our house company while we're in Germany! Thank you for letting me totally redecorate and take-over your house, mom. I know you're still in surfs-up recovery 2 weeks later ;)
I own a Cricut (cutting machine // best gift I've ever received) so I was able to pre-craft & pack a bunch of deco's. Then -- almost immediately -- after landing in KC I got to work on a few other projects.
BUT, planning and crafting a party to be thrown across the world was no small feat. I figured out that it not only takes a village to raise a human, but it can also take a village to throw a party (-- at least the way I wanted it to be thrown - because I'm crazy...I know). SO Before I jump in to all the pics of Asher's splish splash birthday bash, I have to give a HUGE thank you to my army of party people who helped make the day 1000000 times better than I could have alone! [Keep reading for your party creds].
One of our (super-amazingly-talented) good friends, Josh, totally enabled one of my more ridiculous birthday decoration fantasies and HANDMADE this ocean waves backdrop AND it turned out so much better than I could have ever imagined. It literally made my decoration dreams come true. You'll see it in the background of so many of our party pics. He turned my Kansas backyard into a beach. AGHHH!!
I wanted snacks & drinks to be fun, beachy and match the color scheme I had in my head. (Translation: I spent far too long debating colors for tablecloths and plastic cups... insert husband's eye roll here).
You guys, the stir-sticks in the jar below are legit from our wedding...my fab bridesmaids made so many we're still repurposing the MurrnNups goodness 6 years later...I had the straws & the twine in my craft closet and just Cricuted up some pineapples to attach to them.
Here's a pic of the centerpieces I crafted for each of the outdoor tables. My mom bought all the pineapples on sale at Joann's and spotted the adorable mini-beach chairs at a store in Germany. Thanks to Tammy for snagging them for me!
I definitely wanted to display Asher's monthly pics somehow and the wooden wall in the living room made for the perfect backdrop!
The main indoor focus was Asher's Snack Shack! I scowered the internet for cute surf/shark themed snacks and all the kids gobbled them up out of little sand pails.
So once decorations were up (Cred to my Mimi who helped cure a few mental-party-breakdowns along the way) it was PARTY TIME. I was SO busy and focused on chatting and all other things birthday that I didn't take a single pic with my camera once it came time for the partay! SO, I have to give a huge round of applause to my grandpa (Poppy the Great) and awesome friends (Kendra & Linds I'm talking to you!!) who picked up my photo documenting slack! Photo Cred from here on out goes to them!
You guys, it was literally a million degrees outside that day... I know, I know ... what did I expect when I decided to host an outdoor party at the end of June - in Kansas? Well, we celebrated in true Midwest fashion... It was HOT & HUMID. We set up lots of outdoor water/sand activities for the kids and they all seemed to have an awesome time getting soaked. I bought a few of those spritzer fans for the grown-ups who just kind of rotated between sitting outside & cooling off inside.
Ultimately, it all went well, but, yeah, hair needed to go up. And don't mind my glistening face in the rest of the party pics.
PS How cute is that little baby parking lot!! And yes, I did re-paint a cozy coupe for the occasion. ;)
About an hour after guests arrived, we arranged for a little surprise to help cool everyone off! The Kona Ice Truck stopped by for all we could eat snow cones! Everyone seemed to enjoy their tasty treats & even the adults got in on the action (especially after I shared my DIY Frosé (Frozen Rosé) recipe.
And because 2 sweet stops are better than 1, cake was next on the agenda. Asher's not a huge fan of cake or frosting (YET!), but he actually dug into this one, made by my (baker of all things yummy) brother, Dan!
My crafty cousin, Chelsea, made Asher's highchair decor! It was perfectly oceany & floaty and even though an actual ocean separated our craft stations, it fit the theme like a dream.
PS Asher really enjoyed the cake...you just can't tell in this particular pic.
We ended the party with a pic of all the kiddos! We may have had to sing a few (more than a few) rounds of Wheels on the Bus to even get them all to stand in the same general vicinity of one another...and they may not all be looking at the camera...or smiling ... but I'm so thankful Asher can look back and see all the friends that celebrated his very first birthday with him. We love you all oh-so-much!
Oh yeah.... with all the thank yous I'm spreading around on this post, I've got to shout out to the hubs: for buying a million pounds of sand to fill a shark shaped sand box, to grilling (and roping your dad into helping with the grilling) in a million degree heat and for accommodating (the majority of) my out-there party plans. Asher & I are the luckiest. It totally took a village.
Embrace the Wilde,
lindsey
