We spent the morning playing with babies and decorating birthday cakes (they turned out pretty fantastic if I do say so myself). For my Ladybug, I made a chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling and buttercream frosting Abby Cadaby cake. And for Lovely, I made a heart-shaped bunny bliss cake (kind of like a cinnamon carrot cake with a smoother texture) with white cream cheese frosting decorated with pink roses. We tried to get the girls to take naps but lately they've been begging to sleep in the same room. Sometimes this works, but mostly they just play quietly together. This was one of the latter occasions. yea for playing together but generally this means they will be nap-deprived and cranky later.
The official celebrating kick off activity (at Ladybug's request) was going to the pool. Some of our friends were able to meet us there and the girls had a great time running in every direction, splashing, floating, going down the waterslide and playing with friends.
The party continued back at our house, now joined by grandparents and more friends. Guests trickled in as we finished setting up, fired up the grill and let the kids run around. Daddy/Grill-Master-Extraordinaire grilled chicken and hot dogs to have with fruit, veggies and chips. We played some party games starting with our own little variation of "hot potato" except that instead of a potato its a contraption that runs off a timer and when the timer goes off, it bursts a water balloon inside all over the person holding it. The kids loved it. Then the kids worked with a partner using squirt guns to clean eachother's feet from the whipped cream I sprayed on top (hilarious!) and threw a ball into the basket hoop floating in the pool. (We called it a "Splash Party" because we continued the water theme after our swimming adventure, playing water games, using kiddie pools and generally making a soggy mess of the backyard.)
Next the kids gathered around for the pinata (a purple flower chosen by Ladybug) and the poor pinata barely made it through all the kids who turned out to be especially adept at smashing it. Everyone got their fill of candy and even Lovely (held by Papa) took a turn holding the bat and looking around in confusion. We brought the cakes out and sat the birthday girls side by side. Ladybug was grinning from ear to ear and Lovely was ready to burst into overly-tired tears. But she managed to hang on through our quick rendition of Happy Birthday and then Daddy encouraged Lovely to touch her birthday cake. Ladybug needed no prompting and dove in with huge, giggling bites. Then she happily helped me cut the cake with our special birthday knife (our wedding knife) while Lovely warmed to the task and began to grab handfuls of frosting and smear them everywhere. Our once near-tears baby forgot her tiredness and happily slapped at the cake, devoured frosting and made a giant mess. We quickly cut the cake in half so there was some left to eat while she demolished her half (in my defense, I did not let my baby eat half a cake. she ate very little. instead she smeared it all over her face, in her hair, all over her high chair and on several family members that dared stand too close.). Eventually Daddy was feeding her bites of ice cream and she managed to give herself a brain freeze and began to cry. But after a quick cuddle and warm shower, she was clean, content and ready to play again. So we brought out the truckload of presents to finish out the evening. (okay, maybe half a truckload. but between it being a double birthday and the generosity of our friends and family, our lucky little girls were very spoiled.) Lovely sat on my lap, Ladybug sat on Daddy's lap and Butterfly was our runner, retrieving new presents for them to open. They got some great stuff and managed a few sincere and adorable cries of thanks and dashes for tight hugs amid the flurry of present opening.
Cake devoured and presents opened, we did a quick clean up and bid goodbye to our guests as they trickled out. Some family lingered and watched as the girls began going through the stack of presents again, playing and investigating, declaring each one to be the favorite. We got to skype and say hello to some family that wasn't able to make it but the girls didn't last long so I put Lovely to bed and Daddy took the girls to cuddle and watch a movie in our room. When I checked on them a few minutes later, everyone was sound asleep. What a great day.
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