LET'S GO CAMPING!

Last week was a whirlwind. We had Milo's birthday, Valentine's Day, classroom volunteering, the boys' joint birthday party, and their yearly photos all in a five day span. Whew. It's all good, important, memory making material. I had to tell myself many times to just relax and enjoy it, instead of letting it stress me out. I mostly accomplished that.

*These were the party invites

I felt a wee bit guilty for coupling the boys' birthday parties together. But with their birthdays only twelve days apart, it just makes the most sense, and will probably always be this way. I got over it quickly, and they were non the wiser.

Indoor parties are harder for me. With Nugget's summer birthday, we have the whole backyard to spread out, decorate, and run around. But really, I think all the hoopla of decorating is mostly to impress the adults anyway. Kids only care about the presents. And the cake.

We decided on a vintage camping theme for this one. My details were minimal, but enough.

Nick prides himself on the food, and we knocked that one out of the park. He's been ice fishing all winter, freezing his catches to get a good stock pile with this party in mind. We served fish, the most amazing chili I've ever eaten (I used this recipe), corn bread, trail mix, and smores cupcakes (find the recipe here). Birthday party cakes and cupcakes are my thing. I vowed to myself to go the extra effort and always make them homemade. No one cares but me, but it still makes me happy.

We also asked our guests to come dressed in their best plaid, and it was a hoot! (Especially with these two!)

Milo is so silly and didn't want to open any of his presents himself. He insisted that I do it, while he kept his eyes covered so he could be surprised.

Thankfully, Otto was a little more hands on.

This wasn't a present for Otto, but he had fun playing with my niece's ipod while Milo opened gifts first.

Milo just eats up every little bit of us singing happy birthday to him, and this smile gets me every time.

Otto saw the cupcakes and wanted them in his belly. Now!

He ate that thing like it was his J.O.B., which it totally was.

As the party wound down, Milo needed a little time to chill out, while the other kids played amongst him. (Yes, he's 'reading' an American Girl book. Which Orelia is totally into right now and it is the most fun!)

Check out this faux campfire. I splurged a tad (Land of Nod) and we gave it as a joint gift to the boys, because lets be honest, Otto does not need another 'baby' toy!

And we called it a wrap with a silly family portrait.

What we didn't expect was to be slammed with a sudden snow fall during the party. It took several family members nearly two hours to make the regularly thirty minute drive home :/ But every made it safely, and we thank you all for coming out to celebrate with us!

Happy Birthday Milo and Otto!