Kaitlin's 2nd Birthday Party

Only 3 weeks late with this post! We had Kaitlin's second birthday party at Stan and Cindi's house on August 22. We had it out there because we rented the Fun Bus, which is based in McKinney and they wouldn't come as far east as our house in Coppell so the Keiths were kind enough to let us use their house. I reserved the bus several months ago, in the height of K's bus obsession, but by the time her party rolled around she was kind of over it so that was kind of a bummer. (Let this be a lesson to those planning their kiddos parties in the future!) She was excited when she first saw it, but there was also a man working the bus, and she's been very wary of men lately so I think that scared her when she got on. Every man we see is referred to as "the man" by the way. "The man" is mowing the lawn next door, "the man" is taking our order at a restaurant, "the man" is at the door if the doorbell rings. Scott hopes the wariness of "the man" lasts for 30 more years.

The idea of the bus is basically like a Little Gym or other gymnastic-type venue that comes to your house. They have alot of fun stuff to crawl on, a ring that the kids can swing on, a trampoline, etc and they lead a class for an hour utilizing all the equipment, and also do some music-type things (maracas, parachute, etc). It was alot of fun once K got comfortable with it, and once they allowed all the parents to come on the bus (originally they told us only 2 adults at a time - this was quickly violated as more and more kids freaked out without their mommies.) I think this idea would be perfect for a 4 year old bday party - Scott's cousin Cameron was eating it up and he just turned 4. The 2 year olds were all just a little too wary.

After the bus, we all went inside for a pizza feast and then cake. I made Scott's Nannie Pat's recipe for strawberry cake since every time I asked K what kind of cake she wanted she would just say "a pink one." It was very good, but not the prettiest thing I've ever seen. I think I messed up the frosting, but the family swears that is what it is supposed to look like. K liked it so that's all that really matters! I'm so sad though, none of us thought to get the video camera out and no one captured a still photo of Kaitlin's SWEET FACE when we were all singing to her. I'm not kidding, it was quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen because she was embarrassed to have everyone singing to her so she just put her little face down and looked up with her little puppy dog eyes and had a tiny shy smile on her face - precious! And not captured! Darnit!

Everyone hung out for a bit and then the family stuck around to watch her open all her loot and play for a bit, and then it was home for a nap and after that to see her brand new kitchen from Nana and Pop, which was a huge hit. It was a great day! Here are all the pics, highlights are below.


The bus rolls up - we are the envy of the neighborhood!








Some of the action on the inside of the bus...








and some of the action on the inside of the house.










Hmm, not a huge fan of "the man" or the slide...









but she is a huge fan of pizza. To the tune of 5 slices.












Told you the cake was not the prettiest, but the girl sure is!










Candle as utensil?









The whole fam-damily.