Abbie's 2nd Birthday Party!

We celebrated Abbie's 2nd birthday this morning with a party at a local park and playground. We had been to the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve to play with friends before, and Abbie had really enjoyed it. It has a huge playground (one side for smaller children and the other for bigger children) and multiple pavilions with seating. I decided that would be the perfect place for Abbie's party because 1)she would just be happy running around outside 2)she loves the playground 3)it is a beautiful area with lots of tress and hiking trails and 4)there was plenty of room to have a party. Residents can reserve one of the pavilions for a small charge. I made sure to reserve the pavilion back in mid-January for fear I would forget with Carter's arrival. All I had to do was hope for a warm and rain-free day!

We could not have asked for a more perfect day! The weather was perfect, cool and sunny. Abbie's party started at 10:00, but my mom and I went out earlier in the morning to pick up balloons and get things set up in the pavilion. It was a very windy day (isn't it always in Dallas) so it was not easy trying to put tableclothes and balloons out. My attempt to weight down the tableclothes (birdseed in little bags) was no match for the wind. Thankfully the wind calmed down by the time the party started.

The Birthday Girl, family and friends started to arrive around 10:00. For memory's sake, here are all of Abbie's family and friends that were able to help celebrate her birthday (We wish many more of our family and friends could have joined us!). - Abbie (The Birthday Girl!)
- Carter (Her favorite little brother!)
- Mommy and Daddy
- Mimi and Bebe
- Nana and Pop Pop
- Great Grandma and Grandpa Carter
- Maggie (We missed Elliott who was sick!)
- Shannon, Kelly and Gracie
- Dan, Laura, Thomas and Tabitha
- Wendy and Griffin
- Melissa, Roy and Ella
- Meighan and Sophia

Look! Here come my friends!

Ella

Thomas and Tabitha

Gracie

Griffin

Once we had a chance to catch up with our friends, we all headed down to play on the playground! All of the kids had a great time! Abbie especially loved having Aunt Maggie play with her on the playground. Thank you Maggie for keeping an eye on her for us!

Aunt Maggie and Abbie

Abbie swinging like a big girl!


Abbie wanted to hang just like Ella had!



Little Friends

Around 11:15, we went back to the pavilion for snacks! We had ham and turkey sandwiches along with some of Abbie's favorite snacks: raisins (which she ate by the handful), goldfish, wheat bunnies, cheddar cheese and melon. Abbie loved eating snacks with her friends at the picnic benches.

Carter had a snack too! Nana held him the entire time. He loved it!

After snacks it was time for the birthday cake! Since Abbie has no interest in cake, I thought perhaps she would like a chocolate chip cookie cake. After all, they are her Mommy's favorite and she does like chocolate chip cookies. Unfortunately, the cookie cake did not go over much better than regular cake. I think she is just not interested in cake, especially when she could be running around playing. Everyone else really enjoyed her cake though! (And she did end up eating some leftover cookie cake over the following days.) When it came time to blow out her candles she wasn't quite sure what to do. Mommy had to help her out a little and it even took me a few tries!









After the cookie cake, we sat and talked with our family and friends until it was time for everyone to head home. We were so happy to have so many of our family and friends there to help us celebrate Abbie's 2nd birthday. I know she had a great time and was so happy to see everyone! By the time we got home, we were all exhausted and ready for a nap after our fun birthday morning!