The Show Must Go On...

Well as promised, I am sharing how Chickpea's 2nd Birthday Bash went. Overall things went great. The only thing I would do different was wish that I was not dealing with a raging sinus infection. In fact all I wanted to do all weekend long was stay in my pj's, in bed and under the covers. To say I felt and looked like death warmed over would be a compliment. But as all of us mothers know the show must go on, especially when a birthday party is at stake. So I guess it is fair to say that us mom's are much like letter carriers(if that is even a correct term these days) we go to work and do our thing regardless of even the most extenuating of circumstances.

So after much thinking, we decided to host Chickpea's 2nd birthday at the Orlando Science Center. I have to say it was a great choice for many reasons. First, they are extremely easy to work with, and are very organized leaving little to no stress on the day of your party. Second, you can't beat the value that they offer with their parties (invitations, party supplies, activities, 2 party coordinators, price of admission and parking, as well as tickets to the IMAX show for that day are all included). Third, this being the most important (at least to me), when the party is over they take care of all clean up and you are not left cleaning up a mess or worse having lingering party guests camping out in your home.

Chickpea had an animal themed party that ROCKED. Her guests where all greeted by two party hosts, and once all of our guests arrived the coordinators kicked things off by doing a cool show and tell all about the different animals the kids where going to look for during the upcoming scavenger hunt in the animal sanctuary. This was then followed by an art project where everyone was given a round ball of "plaster" that was made of salt, flour, ground coffee beans and water (totally safe in case anyone wanted to give it a taste test). The coordinators then instructed everyone to roll their plaster into a ball, and then began talking about all the different types of animal tracks we saw in the sanctuary. The party guests where all then able to create their own animal foot imprint that they later took home after the party.

After all the fun activities we sat down to enjoy pizza, cake and ice cream. Then just when we thought things were beginning to wind down, we where surprised by one final guest. A baby alligator that all of our party guests were able to get up close and personal with (touch that is). Everyone loved the opportunity with one exception, my sister. The true irony is this is a person who owns multiple exotic animal skin shoes, and handbags. I guess I will chalk up her reluctance to good old fashion guilt.

With everything all said and done, Chickpea's 2nd birthday bash was a big hit. I even took some of my own advice and visited the local dollar store to create a great goodie bag to send home with all our guests. I guess at the end of the day, our children especially at this age have will have little recollection of these parties. So why do we go through all this trouble? I'll tell you, for the memories of friends and family getting together to celebrate your child.