My little bunny turned two. In the blink of an eye. The passage of time has become incredibly unforgiving, where did my baby go? I see pictures of last year and at a glance it seems she went to sleep looking like a 1 years old and woke up as a 2 years old. Ha, but then I really think about, all the sleepless nights, colds and sniffles, tantrums, tooth aches, and also, words she learned each day, hugs, kisses, her little first steps, and the trips and laughs we've had this year and well, it can all be accounted for. It's been a great one. It's been a crazy, hard and loving two years.
This year, we did two things, I took care of the mini party and dad planned a big surprise for her (well, for us!). We took her to the famous San Diego Zoo to see all her beloved animals. To be honest, I am NOT a fan of zoos. In fact, they make me sad. To see all the animals in captivity. I pledged (to myself) that I would never go to a zoo again. However, this is another topic, I'll write about, including our experience at the zoo and San Diego.
For her Birthday Party, I decided to keep it simple but cute. We invited around 10 kids so it was a fairly small event. Compared to birthday parties in Peru, of course, that are a BIG deal and massive events. I was committed in limiting the number of junk and unnecessary plastic, such as balloons. Yes, they're cute, but in reality, they're just a lot of waste. I decided to use things I already owned and tweak them to work.
The cake:
We had Banana Cake, with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. You can find the recipe here. Delicious! I made the layered cake, because it looks nice and you get extra frosting. I have these easy to use cake molds on amazon, link here. I also purchased a cake decorating kit last year and used it again now. As for the animals, we got them at Michaels Store. They're Safari LTD brand. If you wait for those great discounts at Michaels, you can get these for 40% off in you buy online pick up in store.
Other food:
Kept food simple, minimal, but cute.
Lion dip. I cook the baby carrots because it gives me piece of mind that the kiddos can just grab and eat with less risk of choking. The center in Hummus (store bought!). Made the ears with bread, eyes are blueberries, and used peppers and carrots to make whiskers and mouth.
Cucumber snack, with honey mustard (because it's Victoria's favorite) but Ranch is probably child friendlier. Tongue is a strip of red pepper.
Tiger mandarins. Yup, just mandarins, with a face.
And the crowd pleasers: Croissants with Nutella, I cut them up in three pieces, Veggie Sticks (every toddler I know LOVES these), and Pop Corn from Boom Chicka Pop, purple bag (for adults and older kiddos). I also had bananas, yup, bananas, on a bowl, they ate them all! Last but not lease, tortilla strips and guac. I had a big tray of mac and cheese that I put in the oven for the kiddos to eat some dinner before they left.
To drink: water, cucumber water, and milk. Victoria doesn't really drink juice, so I really tried to keep it as healthy for the other kiddos as well.
For fun: I bought some Explorer Hats and put stickers, washy tape and felt animal stickers for them to decorate their own hats. I also made each guest some binoculars with toilet paper rolls.
Two rolls, painted black and added a little green paper on top and recycled some lace I had laying around. I also cut out a little green number two to put on the side to make it more personalized.
Extra entertainment: I built Victoria's teepee and but a monkey on top, laid out some animal books. Additionally, I put a bin full of toys, and a basket with big foam blocks. Oh, the scooter and the tricycle were also a hit. Some music, and that's it. Kids really find a way to entertain themselves.
Decoration:
The only decoration element I purchased were the jungle leaves I used for the tables. I was going to make them myself with paper, but ran out of time. I also figured I'd probably use again for some craft or jungle theme play. Other than that I used things I had, plants, bins and buckets for the food. The Garland with Victoria's name, I still keep from my baby shower, a very special friend of mine made it for us and I cherish it!
I didn't want to purchase discardable plates and cups, so I bough a dozen plates and cups from Target, and now I have some for future parties! Just popped everything in the dishwasher at the end and good as new.
Last but not least. Party Favors!
I bought these cute little wooden animals at Target. I added velcro to keep the pieces together and make it more into a little game. Used some cardboard and painted it green and added little sticks as a fence.
Happy Birthday Victoria! WE LOVE YOU!
with love,
Mom.
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