Doster's Second Birthday Party

Parties have sure changed a lot over the last few years, am I right? While we may have traded adult beverages for juice boxes, the true makings of a good party are still there:  good people!

We were so blessed to have our family and friends join us for Doster's second birthday party. It was the perfect combination of old friends and new friends, for Doster and us!

I did not know how happy it would make me to see Doster interact with his little people.  He absolutely loves his friends and I could see the joy written all over his face.  It was most of his favorite people in one of his favorite places, all themed out in one of his favorite characters.  He was so excited and so happy, which made my heart so full.

The day of the party was a no-brainer.  Doster's birthday fell on a Saturday, so it made sense to run with it.  We decided on a Daniel Tiger theme a few months before the big day and we figured that a park would be a good party locale. Our house isn't large enough to accommodate so many kiddos, so we started checking out parks. I originally wanted Saluda Shoals Park due to the awesome train, but it was booked.  After going down the list with the parks department, Mays Park was available, so I booked it site unseen (though we checked it out many times before the party day). It was really the perfect little park: close to home, yet kind of hidden, a playground just the right size for toddlers, pretty shaded with an available picnic shelter. I decided that morning would work the best since lil man would be well-rested and it would be too hot any other time.

After that was squared away, we ordered the invitations, along with a few other this, from ETSY, got the banner and the awesome birthday outfit from pbs.org, hit up party city and that's about it!

Voila!

I won't elaborate with too many more words when there are plenty of pictures to tell the story.  But I do want to give a shout out to the grand parents-- they really helped us so much logistically!  At one point, I'm pretty sure my dad was spotting James as he stood on a park trashcan to hang that banner. And the grands were great about taking pictures and videos too!  Most of the videos are from them, and I am grateful to have them!

I love this picture more than words...

A few "detail shots"...

I can't help myself when it comes to the cheesiness...

I don't know why but I was obsessed with the helper station.  No one even used it, but I was all about it, ha!

We had the park all to ourselves-- the one random family left as we were setting up.  They coulda stayed and joined!

Happy Doster opening some presents that he was too tired to play with...

And now some videos, if you are so inclined.....

 We also had a double-exciting day as Doster's bud, Olivia, had her party that evening.  We all slept really well that night!


James and I agree that this was one of the best days, hands down. Thanks again to everyone that was able to help make this day so special!