Cecilia Mae celebrated her 1st birthday at home last Sunday with a fun family party! (She actually turns [turned] one on the 31st.) When we arrived, Will and Sophie were completely and totally enamored with all the colorful helium balloons they had suspended above the kitchen table with dangling ribbons long enough for the kids to reach. Seriously... that's all you need for a great party: helium balloons with long ribbons. Save all the money you might waste on other things and just have balloons. :)
{Sorry for the dark picture.}
Will collected them all and made himself the balloon distributor of the day. Then he got all upset when he accidentally gave away the orange one (below) "because that was his favorite". Thankfully, that older (more mature) boy kindly traded it back after Will's mini meltdown. 
You can see in the above picture that we were coming down into the basement. Wait till you see what Cecilia's daddy just finished building for his little princess!A two-level CASTLE!
What a lucky girl, huh? All the other kids {and adults} sure thought so, too. :)
What a lucky girl, huh? All the other kids {and adults} sure thought so, too. :)Here's Sophie in the first floor window.
Inside, the walls are painted in pastels with a blackboard wall along the back and a princess rug on the floor.
If you look to the right there is a ramp with slats (sort of like for animals, only steeper) to climb up to the second level...
...which is entirely a ball pit!
Inside, the walls are painted in pastels with a blackboard wall along the back and a princess rug on the floor. 
If you look to the right there is a ramp with slats (sort of like for animals, only steeper) to climb up to the second level... 
...which is entirely a ball pit! {Plus a little lookout point in the corner - not shown here.}
It's big enough (and sturdy enough) for adults to climb up too so Kelly and I played up there with the kids.
Will had to bring his balloon. Now that he has it back, he isn't letting it out of his sight. ;)
Peaking out over the top. {Yes, I know. I look like a dork.}
The big thing was to bury the older kids. They loved it.
Umm... the balloon is a giveaway, buddy.
Can you see Will? :)
Eye can! Get it? EYE can. Yep - I'm my mother's daughter with the puns.
Sophie and Celia in the look out. Steve did such a nice job making sure this whole thing is so safe and secure and padded! There's foam flooring all around.
Happy Birthday, baby girl!
Can you see Sophie? She's "hiding".
They had a small ladder on the side of the castle for adults to peek into the ball pit.
"Hi, daddy!"
Me with the birthday girl. Poor baby had a cold at her party. But she did so well and was very pleasant all afternoon despite her sniffles and watery eyes.
Craig and our friend Mike playing ping pong.
Gift time!
Will was just itching to "help out". It took everything in him to restrain himself. You could just see his hands and face wanting to reach out and rip that paper. But he got a pep talk ahead of time and only had to be reminded a few times. :) And Kelly let him fetch the new presents and help her open the difficult ones.
Guess what our gift was... Books, of course. That's our standard gift these days. You can never go wrong with books.
Sophie just wandered around and played with Celia's toys. I wonder if she'll be interested in opening her presents in a few weeks?
The newest member of the Munoz household: Bentley Munoz! He's just a puppy but he is growing fast and should top out at ~130# according to Kelly. This is our friend Jill holding him.
Cake time!
Grandma and Papa Riedeman with their three grandkids.
This was so funny. We were getting ready to leave and I couldn't find Sophia. I asked Kelly if she'd seen her and she glanced into the bathroom just far enough to see Sophie on the left side of the toilet playing in the toilet water. She just laughed and said, "Oh, she's just playing in the toilet." Then she looked a little farther into the room to see Cecilia on the right side of the toilet! Both girls had the lid up and their hands in the toilet. Eew! But it was hilarious and we both ran for our cameras. By the time I got back, Sophie had run into the glass walled shower. See her on the right? Apparently this is the hot spot for little kids because whenever we visit, both of my kids love to "hide" and play in the shower. And Kelly has to keep the door closed so Celia won't pull up on the toilet and play in it.
More balloon play.
It was a fun party with delicious food and good times.
It's big enough (and sturdy enough) for adults to climb up too so Kelly and I played up there with the kids. 
Will had to bring his balloon. Now that he has it back, he isn't letting it out of his sight. ;) 
Peaking out over the top. {Yes, I know. I look like a dork.} 
The big thing was to bury the older kids. They loved it. 
Umm... the balloon is a giveaway, buddy. 
Can you see Will? :) 
Eye can! Get it? EYE can. Yep - I'm my mother's daughter with the puns. 
Sophie and Celia in the look out. Steve did such a nice job making sure this whole thing is so safe and secure and padded! There's foam flooring all around. 
Happy Birthday, baby girl! 
Can you see Sophie? She's "hiding". 
They had a small ladder on the side of the castle for adults to peek into the ball pit. 
"Hi, daddy!" 
Me with the birthday girl. Poor baby had a cold at her party. But she did so well and was very pleasant all afternoon despite her sniffles and watery eyes. 
Craig and our friend Mike playing ping pong. 
Gift time! 
Will was just itching to "help out". It took everything in him to restrain himself. You could just see his hands and face wanting to reach out and rip that paper. But he got a pep talk ahead of time and only had to be reminded a few times. :) And Kelly let him fetch the new presents and help her open the difficult ones. 
Guess what our gift was... Books, of course. That's our standard gift these days. You can never go wrong with books.
Sophie just wandered around and played with Celia's toys. I wonder if she'll be interested in opening her presents in a few weeks? 
The newest member of the Munoz household: Bentley Munoz! He's just a puppy but he is growing fast and should top out at ~130# according to Kelly. This is our friend Jill holding him. 
Cake time! 
Grandma and Papa Riedeman with their three grandkids. 
This was so funny. We were getting ready to leave and I couldn't find Sophia. I asked Kelly if she'd seen her and she glanced into the bathroom just far enough to see Sophie on the left side of the toilet playing in the toilet water. She just laughed and said, "Oh, she's just playing in the toilet." Then she looked a little farther into the room to see Cecilia on the right side of the toilet! Both girls had the lid up and their hands in the toilet. Eew! But it was hilarious and we both ran for our cameras. By the time I got back, Sophie had run into the glass walled shower. See her on the right? Apparently this is the hot spot for little kids because whenever we visit, both of my kids love to "hide" and play in the shower. And Kelly has to keep the door closed so Celia won't pull up on the toilet and play in it. 
More balloon play. 
It was a fun party with delicious food and good times.
2 comments:
Just had to add a correction, the castle was not "finished" as previously stated, we are adding outside walls so that it actually looks like a castle and not a rough framed playhouse. We didn't have time to finish before the party, but are still working on it. Oh, and by we I mean my husband.
Great pix ash! I really have to get better at this stuff.
That castle might be the coolest thing I've ever seen! Wish I was that talented. And love all the pics...especially the "eye" one. :)
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