Party Animals!

For Logan's first birthday, we were not home, so we didn't have a party. And, honestly, we were not too social until this year - making such good friends through playgroups, music class, SAMmy's, and of course, YOUNG LIFE! So, we thought a celebration for Logan's birthday was the perfect chance to have lots of friends over! It was such a blast and so special for us to mark Logan's second birthday with a bang!

I made this goofy door decor (in like 5 minutes on Sunday afternoon!)


Our house is pretty small, so we made do with setting up the kitchen table and stuffing any gifts underneath. My sister helped with all the set-up while I ran around doing a few last minute things (and making sure Bennett was fed!).

My favorite part were the supercute cupcakes that my mom and sister made and decorated in Stillwater and then brought over. They were so colorful and fun! I had planned on making cupcakes myself, but when my mom offered, I gave in. Boy, was I ever glad! Between keeping the house in order and getting ready for the party, I would not have had time to make them look soooo great! Thanks Mom and Amy!

I was glad to have family at the party to help with Bennett (rough duty, as you can see!). My family was able to come (except Andrew who was playing baseball for the Saints that afternoon), but John's family was all up in Park Rapids, MN for the start of their week at the lake. We missed them, but they did get a chance to celebrate with Logan later that week!


Kyle and Ali came to the party on their way home from Ali's parents' lake home in Wisconsin. they hadn't seen Bennett for a few weeks, so it was fun for them to see how big he's gotten!

This was a seriously low-key party. We did very little to get ready and made sure to keep it really low maintenance. John and I decided we couldn't drive ourselves crazy, or we wouldn't want to ever have a party again! The best part was that, despite rain showers in the morning, by party time, it was beautiful outside. Good thing because our house would have really been cramped with this many kids running around! We had playtime in the backyard before dinner...

Our friend William came with his whole family all the way from Minneapolis to spend the evening with us and to celebrate with Logan! How special! We loved seeing Mike, Sarah, Will and Grace! Thanks for making the trip!

Logan did really well after warming up (he was a little clingy and shy to start) with sharing all his toys. We usually just have one or two kids at the house for playdates, so this was a lot different!


After some playtime outside, the pizza arrived and everyone enjoyed Logan's favorite: Mancino's! Here Logan shared his table with his buddy Carter.


Of course, pizza was followed by cake...Logan did pretty good trying to blow out his candle, but he got some help from Mom and Dad in the end. As soon as I lit the candle, Logan started singing the birthday song...I think he liked everyone joining in and singing to him!


Surprisingly, Logan is not much of a cake eater. The frosting seems to put him off a little and he really only took about one bite of the cupcake.

Yummy cupcakes, Nana!

Big bite!

John showed Logan how to dig in.

After the cake was eaten, it was back outside to work it off! It was so fun to see all the kids running around and playing - our yard has never been so full! Logan loved the little game of baseball going on! The kids kept forming a line, waiting their turn to hit the ball and run. It was so cute!

All John's hard work on the lawn paid off because we all enjoyed sitting on it. It was nice and green again and pretty soft, too!

We had such a fun party and Logan was a champ. Thanks to all our friends for coming to celebrate with us! The only thing I forgot was to hand out the animal crackers to kids as they left - now what am I going to do with like 36 min bags of animal crackers?! I went off to feed Bennett just as the party ended, but I heard Logan was polite, saying "Bye, safe!" (for good-bye and drive safe) to everyone as they left. My family stayed around for a little bit after the party to help with some clean up (there wasn't much) and to give Logan his gifts from them.

Logan took a little time after the party to hold Bennett: "I wanna hold him, I wanna hold Benn-en, I wanna hold!"

Logan got awesome, fun gifts from everyone - especially this special present from Papa...

Nana and little B.

Logan in his "2" shirt hangin' out by his new ride.

The guys gave Logan some lessons, but he doesn't quite have the motor skills to press the gas pedal yet...we'll have to work on that. My brother had a jeep like this when he was little and it was awesome!

Ali, Kyle, and Amy. Thanks for coming and helping out!

This is so cute, I just had to post it...even though this is supposed to be about Logan...oh well!

Thanks again to all for help making Logan's birthday so special!