Alice's Circus

hi!
so we're experiencing some serious post-Halloween sugar crashes over here. wow. i'm going nuts. and have literally hidden all the candy because i can't take it any more (and neither can my butt). maybe Halloween isn't as great as i always thought it was? or maybe i'm just seeing it from a new point of view (the view of the parent who has to deal with the sugar-overdoses).

whew.

so, here i am to post about something happy.
Alice's birthday party!

 {isn't she just about the cutest thing in the whole wide world?}

i've never had so much fun throwing a party as i did throwing Alice's 1st Birthday Circus party.
the ideas were seriously endless (thanks to Pinterest)!
and of course, what makes a party is the good company. thanks to everyone for coming and getting your Circus on with us. a huge shout-out to my parents and sister for driving out all that way just to celebrate with us. it was seriously so fun.

now, the party started out with a total bang. literally.
we had these huge mylar balloons tied to a post in our backyard..
well, one danced away...and made its way into the power line behind our house.
as the guests were arriving, we heard a huge BAM. POW. ZZZZKKK!! sound. it was wacky.
a few seconds later we heard another POW! and saw the electrical lines explode down.

and then...the power went out.

it stayed out for an hour and forty five minutes...almost the entire party.
all of our neighbors were in the streets (because they were probably watching big football games or making lunch or doing something equally frustrating to lose power for) wondering what the heck had happened.
we pretended we had no idea.
the firetruck came.
the electricians came.

and finally restored power to all.
lucky for us, you don't need power at a Circus party.
and so we just laughed about it (amidst the sounds of fire engines and sirens) and hoped no one would come and publicly humiliate us (or arrest us) in front of all of our family friends.
no one did.
phew.

did you know mylar balloons could do that?
neither did i.
and neither should high school boys. please, keep this information from them.. or it could mean serious trouble for us all.

in spite of the crazy balloon incident, the party was killer. here's a peek into our fun:

the set-up:

the birthday girl, ring leader of the Circus, Miss One-derful, Alice:

her chosen audience:

the activities:
eating (obviously) 
face painting
reading corner
coloring station
goin' fishin'
ring of fire
photo booth (which i will feature at the end)

the main event (destroying eating the first birthday cake):

 

 my personal favorite, the photo booth (i made everyone sit down and take a picture at our "photo-booth" on their way out- and then mailed them a copy later. i have so many other pictures than this, but for the sake of my precious free time and your eyes getting dried out from too many pictures/too long of a post, i will spare us all):

it was such a lovely afternoon- thanks to everyone who made it so special...
especially to the birthday girl for coming into our lives, making our family the craziest circus ever, and making it the most enjoyable stage of life thus far.

life is sweet!

xoxo