Claire's Pool Party

The Bear turns 2 tomorrow (2!!) so we celebrated with a backyard pool party this afternoon. I love throwing parties, so I have to admit, a little part of me was worried when we moved here that we wouldn't yet know anyone to invite when Claire's birthday rolled around. Luckily, we've made a few friends since move-in day- especially since I'm obsessed with paper invitations and it would have been sad to order them and have no one to send them too.

Also, I kind of prepared a lot of food, like 10x the amount of food any amount of guests could eat. It's the curse of the Southern woman.

 

And that's just the inside set-up. Outside we had fruit pizza, watermelon, goldfish, juice for the kids, and juice for the grown-ups (it was awesome; I added a can of sprite to dilute the potency a bit and it was very refreshing).

 

In the non-edible category were adorable inflatable fish, bubbles, and leis. The fish served as decor while they floated in the pool, as bombs when the boys had some sort of ocean war, and then as favors when everyone "fished" one out of the pool to bring home. They were $12 for a dozen (now $14, apparently) and worth every penny. Watching all the kids march down the driveway on their way home with an inflatable fish under one arm was pretty adorable.

 

The birthday girl had a good time. She didn't really know it was her birthday, as she's only two and we were using the party mainly as a way to have everyone over who had so graciously had us over at some point since we moved in, but when it came time for the cake and the singing, realization dawned.

 

I wished I'd captured the moment on film... but there was a spark and a smile and I swear a little blush when she realized everyone was singing for her. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

 

She made a valiant attempt to blow out the candles (after giving everyone a skeptical look when they told her that's what she was supposed to do... maybe we should have practiced?).

 

And then dug in.

 

I did not swim, mostly because I was busy chatting and hostessing, but also because I found an awesome pool dress to wear over my bikini at Ross for $10 and I was too happy with my ensemble to alter it in any way. Unhappily, I TORE the dress when I yanked it over my head 1 minute before the party was supposed to start and I was rushing to get ready. That's the last time I give Claire's hairdo priority over my dressing.

 
post-party post mortem

The horror. I should have taken it off, but I liked it too much and the party was about to start and I figured I'd just keep my arm by my side all afternoon. I have no idea if that worked, but no one tapped my shoulder and informed me of the 6" gash in my dress, so I'll pretend they didn't see.

And it doesn't matter. Everyone had a great time. Claire had a great time. I loved getting to know our neighbors and friends better and seeing all the kids, ages 3 months to 6, play.

 

 

And when the kids were drunk on chocolate, we got a great family picture!

 

One awesome thing about a pool party- when it's time to go, you just clean up your deck, throw the pool toys back in the bin, and deal with the leftover food- your house is already clean! Seriously, despite my offers, no one came inside. It was great! I cleaned the house in preparation for the party, fully expecting to have to clean it all over again when it was done, but it's still in pristine condition for when my mom and grandparents arrive on Thursday (they're doing a one-night layover on their way up to Wisconsin). This is a huge change from when our playroom became a toy mosh pit at Landon's last birthday party.

After everything was clean and I'd used every tuperware container I own for the leftover food, we let Claire open a few presents (that guests really weren't supposed to bring, but I have to admit, it was really fun watching her open them once she figured out what she was supposed to do). Yay for new books to add to our library!

 

I love this picture- Claire is obsessed with cows and this book (a cute play on Good Night Moon for Fort Worth) had a cow right on the cover. She's sleeping with it right now.

Now I'm eating the piece of birthday cake I never got a chance to eat and looking forward to starting Claire's real birthday tomorrow with her favorite blueberry bagels (with a candle) and ending it with her favorite dinner of macaroni and cheese, veggies, and strawberries. And a few more presents.

Happy Birthday not-so-baby Bear.