Mason's 2nd Birthday

Several times a week we read Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish before bed, so it seemed like the perfect theme for Mason's big "2".

Matt's sister and her family came down from Redding on Saturday and stayed with us. Here are Samuel and Mason making breakfast on Sunday morning.

These were all of the kids at Mase's party (except Samuel)! We only invited our families and still ended up with about 25 adults and 5 kids. Thankfully, it was a gorgeous Nor Cal day and guests could sit outside or inside (of course, most of the men chose inside so they could watch the football games).

Lunch time! I used THIS pulled pork recipe and it was delicious! Katie came over early to help and made the coleslaw from THIS recipe. Of course, you can't have a Dr. Seuss party without green eggs. We also served fresh veggies with ranch, baked beans, and raspberry Jell-o with gummy sharks "swimming" in it.

This *might* have been my favorite part of the party. :)

I found an overhead projector on Craigslist for cheap, copied an image from Google onto a transparency, then used craft paint to create Thing 1 and Thing 2. Home Depot sells 4x8 styrofoam boards that are a half inch thick for $8, so I had them cut one down to a manageable size for me and I cut out the holes for our faces.

Guests took turns getting their pictures taken and I'll send a copy of each couple's photo to them with thank you notes.

Mason and Uncle Jared

Mase and Jenna (How funny are their expressions?!)

To mimic Thing 1 and Thing 2 hair, dessert was Cotton Candy cupcakes. They are french vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting mixed with cotton candy. Plus a little on top for garnish.

Tessa, from The Frosted Cake Shop, made Mason's smash cake again this year.

I always request a low-sugar, organic recipe. This year she did a chocolate cake with strawberry filling. Mmm...

Me and my birthday boy.

I still can't believe he's 2.

Everyone should have a special birthday outfit! I made Mase's shirt with applique a simple "2" and two small blue fish.

And a birthday hat a'la Cat in the Hat!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, you can make anything with felt and hot glue (and, in this case, pipe cleaners).

At first we gave him the whole cake and told him to go for it. Being my OCD kid, he gingerly licked a finger's worth of frosting off and that's about it. Our families were trying to tell him there were toys inside so he would dig in. No go.

I handed Mase a fork and he made a small dent in one section of the top-- being careful not to disturb the pretty yellow writing.

And that was it for the cake. There's a lot left over for me and Matt!

Our attempt at a family picture. At least one of us is looking at this camera. :)

We all had a great time and spent the evening playing with new toys (Mason), putting together Mason's cool new play table (Matt), and cleaning up (me).

This year's One Fish, Two Fish party was a LOT less work than last year's golf party, and even more fun!

Oh, and favors were bags of swedish fish and gummy sharks. (Matt and I might've stashed a couple extras to keep for ourselves!)

Wednesday is Mason's actual birthday and I've got a fun-filled day planned that includes a visit to the pediatrician for his 2 year shots. Don't worry, there willl be sufficient birthday treats involved too.

Now, time to start brainstorming for the 3rd birthday party...