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Word to the wise: If you're having your party at a public park, arrive EARLY. Like ridiculously early. Hubby had heard some tales from a few of his buds at work about having birthday parties at public parks and having to arrive by at least 8am to hold tables, even for an afternoon party. Hubby was really worried, so he left our house at 6am Sunday morning. Thank God he did! First, he got stuck in traffic because of a huge accident. It should've taken him 15 minutes to get to the park, but it took him 45 minutes because of the accident. I was worried when he texted me at 7:45am saying everything was setup and he was done. I thought maybe he got there way too early so the trek to 1pm for the party start time was going to feel like an eternity to him.
A set of parents showed up at around 8am and looked obviously flustered to see Hubby had already setup. The dad put his stuff on one of the tables that Hubby had already set up with our goody bags and a table cloth. When Hubby informed him that that was our table, he was really upset and his wife had to calm him down. There were at least 2 other people that showed up and ended up leaving. Then this other lady got a bounce house. She thought that because she had to get a permit for the bounce house, she magically got several tables with it. She wanted me to give up one of my tables... um...Sorry. Hubby got here at 7am for a reason. We didn't take tables we knew we weren't going to need... We had three tables. Plus 4 fold up tables we brought. We eneded up using all of the tables and having to add folding chairs to some of the tables for extra seating! 
The party went off without a hitch! Hubby was on the bbq flippin' burgers and hot dogs for everyone. That's where he likes to be, and he's good at it. I wandered around getting kids buckets and shovels for the sand, bubbles, making sure Will was fed, changed, and wandering around with someone closeby. It was nice to spend an afternoon outdoors with tons of awesome friends and family. I know as adults we don't get to enjoy the outdoors nearly enough.
The food was easy. I went to Costco with my dad Saturday afternoon. We stocked up on burgers, dogs, buns, plus lots of fruit like strawberries, grapes, bananas, and cuties. I also got some Doritos and chips & salsa. All good stuff that won't get yucky sitting outside. My dad and I filled two Costco carts full of stuff. Granted not all of it was for the party, but a good majority of it was! My friend, Yvett, brought a yummy pasta salad and these awesome pizza twist breadsticks she makes, too.
For dessert, I stocked up on Betty Crocker cake mixes a couple weeks ago at Ralphs when they were 10 for $10. I made way too many cupcakes, but they were pretty tasty. I pulled a Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade and added some fresh strawberries to the strawberry cupcakes, and some other goodies to the Betty Crocker mixes to make them extra tasty. Will loved them so much he shoved two in his face!
The secret to the goody bag goods - 99 cent store! I hadn't been there in years. They had a ton of Mickey Mouse stuff, plus bubbles and other fun little games that I had spread out for everyone to play with. I got sand toys there too. Target had buckets and shovels in the $1 section that I stocked up on too. 99 cent store is a great spot for coloring books too! I grabbed a few plus some chunky Mickey crayons. I walked out of the 99 cent store with tons of stuff to fill up 12 goody bags, plus extra activities I could put out on the tables for under $50. Lani joked that I was spoiling kids that aren't even mine, but when one of the boys at the party yelled "We need buckets and shovels!", I was glad to reply "Follow me! I've got lots!".
I would have to concur with Lani... The first birthday is as much about your little munchkin as it is about you and your Hubby surviving the first year with a kid. It's a great celebration of your new family. We stayed on a budget, but we made sure we had enough of the essentials - food and drinks. As long as your guests are fed and quenched, everything else is like buttah.
The party went off without a hitch! Hubby was on the bbq flippin' burgers and hot dogs for everyone. That's where he likes to be, and he's good at it. I wandered around getting kids buckets and shovels for the sand, bubbles, making sure Will was fed, changed, and wandering around with someone closeby. It was nice to spend an afternoon outdoors with tons of awesome friends and family. I know as adults we don't get to enjoy the outdoors nearly enough.
The food was easy. I went to Costco with my dad Saturday afternoon. We stocked up on burgers, dogs, buns, plus lots of fruit like strawberries, grapes, bananas, and cuties. I also got some Doritos and chips & salsa. All good stuff that won't get yucky sitting outside. My dad and I filled two Costco carts full of stuff. Granted not all of it was for the party, but a good majority of it was! My friend, Yvett, brought a yummy pasta salad and these awesome pizza twist breadsticks she makes, too.
For dessert, I stocked up on Betty Crocker cake mixes a couple weeks ago at Ralphs when they were 10 for $10. I made way too many cupcakes, but they were pretty tasty. I pulled a Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade and added some fresh strawberries to the strawberry cupcakes, and some other goodies to the Betty Crocker mixes to make them extra tasty. Will loved them so much he shoved two in his face!
The secret to the goody bag goods - 99 cent store! I hadn't been there in years. They had a ton of Mickey Mouse stuff, plus bubbles and other fun little games that I had spread out for everyone to play with. I got sand toys there too. Target had buckets and shovels in the $1 section that I stocked up on too. 99 cent store is a great spot for coloring books too! I grabbed a few plus some chunky Mickey crayons. I walked out of the 99 cent store with tons of stuff to fill up 12 goody bags, plus extra activities I could put out on the tables for under $50. Lani joked that I was spoiling kids that aren't even mine, but when one of the boys at the party yelled "We need buckets and shovels!", I was glad to reply "Follow me! I've got lots!".
I would have to concur with Lani... The first birthday is as much about your little munchkin as it is about you and your Hubby surviving the first year with a kid. It's a great celebration of your new family. We stayed on a budget, but we made sure we had enough of the essentials - food and drinks. As long as your guests are fed and quenched, everything else is like buttah.
Hey I spoiled the kids that weren't mine either! It's a fun time and wish I could have been there. All those extra toys will come in handy for you anyway for summer time, future play dates, and for when my two little turds come to visit!! Yay Will!!! Happy 1st!
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