Starring the Stewarts: A Tornadoe of a Tea Party

I will admit that the title is exaggeration on my part...but not by much. ;) All in all the girls had a good 2nd birthday party, but it did not go exactly as I had planned.

Let me rewind to late January 2008. I began to ponder places that I could have the girls 2nd birthday party. Since I will never be able to host a birthday party in our tiny house I am always left wondering what to do. This year we were working with a pretty tight birthday party budget, so that cut out some places that would have been perfect for the girls' 2nd birthday party. The top of the list of places that I wanted was The Little Gym, we recently attended a party there and it was totally age appropriate. For only $225 ( I am being sarcastic) they will supply you with a hostess, paper goods, and an hour and a half of playtime. After a lot of thought I came across the spring brouchure from the Arlington Parks and Rec Department. I remembered that they offered theme birthday parties (tea party, sports party, scavenger hunt party etc...). We had even done Caden's 6th birthday through the rec department (he has a sports party), and it went super smoothly. The rec party came with 2 hours in a reserved room, a craft, a cake, paper goods, goody bags, drink for the kids, decorations, and a party hostess for only $125. I decided to book with the rec, and the person who helped me book it suggested that the tea party birthday would be the best suited for the girls.

Fast forward to February 16, 2008. We walk into the rec ready for Ella and Emma's 2nd birthday party. The party was held in the same room where Cade's 6th birthday party was held. There were balloons, and a personalized sign for the girls, everything looked really good. The under 17 party host shyly smiled at us, said nothing, and walked out of the room. Uh-oh! After 10 minutes it was 4:10 guests had arrived, and the hostess still wasn't back. I sent Sam to find her, and she finally returned. When she came back in the room she asked me what I wanted to do first....what!? Wasn't she supposed to run this party? I asked her what all we were going to do. She said that the kids would be decorating flower pots, making necklaces, having a tea party, eating cake, and playing a game. It sounded a bit scary to me since most of the party attendants were under 5. I decided that we should make necklaces first. That went ok, and despite my fear of children choking on beads everyone came out unharmed with very creative necklaces. Thankfully the girl then told me that they had run out of flower pots....wheww! We moved right into the tea party. At this point my mom was doing way more than the hostess who stood back and looked confused. The kids did great with their lemonade (tea) and cookies, and we came through with only a few minor spills. Next came birthday cake time.

Let me just stop here to mention that Carson was acting like an animal that had been caged for years and finally set free. I am sure that everyone at that party wondered what Sam and I were doing to parent him. He was very wound up because 2 of his favorite friends, Ethan and Corbin, were at the party. He was running (sometimes out of the room), play fighting, and engaging in other activities that I hate to permenantley record in this blog. He was acting terrible, and Sam and I really couldn't even watch him because we were having to coordinate this party. Thank goodness for my mom who helped to keep him under control as much as possible. Brenda mentioned something about him pinching someone, and I didn't even know that had happened.

Back to the birthday cake. The poor party hostess didn't have a working flame, and when someone pulled matches out of their purse the girl still couldn't light the candles. My mom stepped in, lit the candles, and served cake as I helped out with the eating of the cake. Then the girls opened their presents. They got many great things including, spring clothes, cool toys, money, and my favorite a pink potty from Chels. After opening presents there was just a few minutes left so everyone played musical chairs....that was funny!

After musical chairs it was time for the party to end. We gathered everything and headed out to the parking lot, and saw an amazing sight. There was a double rainbow in the sky. It was the most beautiful rainbow that I had ever seen. I guess it is true that a rainbow represents calm after the storm! Chels and I definintley saw it as an amazing sign. Double rainbows on the day that my 2 year old twins celebrated their 2nd birthday party.

sidenote: I didn't mean to come down so hard on the poor clueless hostess, but the whole atmosphere could have been changed if she had taken charge (no excuses for Carson). I guess you get what you pay for, but my sweet father-in-law gave her a $20 tip which she didn't deserve. I am bitter...I know!

Thanks a million to the party photographer, Chels, who worked very hard to help documernt this experience! My sad pictures of the party are really bad. Here are some piuctures that Chels took....