Planning a First Birthday Party: Games & Activities

I've been to many a kid-birthday party at this point...and typically there is some kind of game or funny thing to do/wear/watch/craft. But for a one-year-old (who's party was quick and being cut short due to G'ma Boersma's funeral in Chicago the next day) I nixed all of this and considered the present-opening, and smash-cake-watching the 'Fun and Games.'

I briefly contemplated making raccon masks for everyone to wear/have to take home from the party, but then realized that was ridiculous and repeated to myself, "This is a one-year-old's birthday party...he's not going to remember it or care." I found it best to stay AWAY from Pinterest once I had my basics for the party planned.

The actual party was an hour and a half from start to finish, which felt just about right for a one-year-old. It didn't even feel 'rushed' because Mav doesn't have an attention span to do most things for an extended period of time anyway. The crew leaving for the funeral in Chicago all wanted to be on the road by 5:30, so we squeezed everything important in before they left and it worked perfectly. Josh wasn't sure if he was even going to the funeral until about five minutes before the trucks pulled out of the driveway which made things interesting...and it was a good thing Mav and I were planning to stay behind all along. The 10-hour road trip, plus hauling and delivering a bunch of stuff on the way back just would not have worked out well with a teething one-year-old (did I mention as soon as the birthday festivities were over, Mav became a HUGE CRAB for about a week?!).

This also allowed for a nice, relaxing evening with my parents, grandma's and aunt left at the house to visit with...they got to see Mav eat his supper and play with his new toys which doesn't easily happen these days with a grandma in a nursing home + a wheel chair. We took turns crowding in the bathroom for bathtime and ended the evening with a walk around campus.

A few other things that made the party easy and I should note...I requested Uncle Nathan be in charge of taking pictures at the party because he usually ends up snapping pics on his camera anyway and it worked out AMAZING. I didn't have to worry about getting pictures of my baby opening his presents or eating ignoring his cake...I just got to pay attention to what was going on. We also paraded every family member through a line for a picture with Maverick as soon as his nap was over and he was happy and I love that we have pictures with everyone and of everyone who was at his first birthday party. :)

Here are a few more pics from the shin-dig and I swear this is my last post about anything baby-birthday related...until next year. ;)

The books with 'moving parts' are a big hit these days. ;)

#boy

I love his monkey feet in this picture.

Forshadowing of how the whole 'Cake Smash' experience would go............................

When we realized it was a lost cause, I figured we might as well get some cute pictures out of it.

Ornery face. 

The cake tasted amazing by the way...my dad and I polished it off later that night even after it had been rolled all over the ground and stepped on my Maverick. Sucks to suck Mav. You can try again next year. ;)

MmB