Charlie's 2nd birthday party!...

We celebrated Charlie's 2nd birthday this afternoon with a little family party in the backyard.  It's hard to believe he's 2!  It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating his birth in the hospital :)  Charlie was having a bit of a hard time when guests started arriving, going into full meltdown mode.  But, eventually he recovered and enjoyed himself, I think.  Henry would have been happy to fill in as birthday boy for him, but we didn't need to resort to such measures ;)

Oh, and I want to start noting the menu, just because I think it's fun.  We went very gourmet: hot dogs, beans, chips, fruit salad, and chocolate cupcakes for dessert.  Pretty much the easiest birthday menu ever (especially when Grandma Gail and Grandma Sharon are willing to help prepare a lot of it :)

And the pictures...

And, basically, my favorite part of getting ready for the boys' birthdays is setting up fun little celebratory vignettes.  I just move things around and use what I have, but I enjoy it way too much :)

You can see the quilt top that I made for Charlie in the background.  I actually finished the top before his party!  Now all I need to do is add the border, sandwich it, and then quilt it!  I'll have to post a full picture of the quilt top later.  I'm loving the way it turned out!

Bob made this easel many many years ago for John's cousin, Kristen, and now it's found it's way to me.  I painted the main part of it with chalkboard paint and I think it makes the perfect birthday party accessory.  Although, I didn't prime it first and noticed some paint peeling away, so I may have to go back and fix that :(

Henry took this picture of Grandma Sharon, along with about 20 that included shots of only her neck to knees.  I deleted those :)

Even at his birthday party, Charlie couldn't be pried away from the swing for long!

Levi spent a lot of time inside playing with our train set...

These family birthday pictures are becoming one of my favorite things about the boys' birthday parties...

Grandma Sharon made cupcakes, which are ALWAYS a hit...

And the gifts...

Henry could hardly stand the fact that it wasn't his birthday party.  He presided over the present opening ceremony though.  I think he's in the background of almost ALL of these present opening pictures :)

And G.G. Sue even made it to the party!  What a special treat!  Grandma Net was there too, but she had to leave before I pulled out the camera.  And Grandpa Art and Grandma Donna were there as well.  All 4 great-grandparents were in attendance and it was awesome :)

And, although I'm not much for themes usually, we did get pirate plates and napkins from Target, and Charlie LOVED them!

And here's a little video of Charlie opening presents.  Nothing remarkable, but a little memory from our day, none-the-less.


Happy Birthday, Charlie!  We love you!