Declan turns 2!!

We celebrated Declan's 2nd birthday on Sunday.  Remember last year, we celebrated Declan's birthday just three days after Elliana was home with just our immediate family.  This year was so much fun celebrating him turning TWO! He was so excited about his Elmo party and knew it was coming as I started to get decorations up.  He kept asking about it and anytime we asked him what he wanted for his birthday party he said "Elmo, stars" to us.  We thought it was cute because he would say it over. and over. and over.  Seriously--it was on repeat.
Finally I figured out that "stars" meant candles!! We saw a candle on a cake in a book a couple weeks ago and he pointed and said it once again, "Elmo, stars" so I had figured out where the "stars" came from. 

Declan's real birthday is not until July 17, so we plan to have a special day as a family.  Daddy is taking the day off work and we will do something fun.  So more about Declan and a look back at his years in a later post:)

We had the swimming pool set up in the back yard for the kids along with a sprinkler ball and the slide.  It was of course very hot outside, so the outdoor play didn't last as long as we had thought it would.  The kids played outside until lunch (homemade nuggets, tater tots, and corn on the cob) and then we did gifts, cake and a piñata.  It went well and Declan loved it!

Here are the photos:
 

 

 

 

 I wish I could've got a better picture of Declan with his cake.  For some reason his eyes always blink when I use my camera! He did such a good job of blowing out his candles all by himself:)

The awesome Elmo cake made by aunt Kacia!! It tasted AND looked great!

  Pinata fun!!

going for the candy!

  Enjoying the delicious cake!!!

Once everyone had left other than family, we took Declan upstairs to see his big present from his grandparents.  Mimi and Papa and Grandma and Tank got him a nice train table and tracks and little city set.  We found it on craigslist so we got a lot of different parts and pieces.  We are excited to have something that the kids can all use.  It will give us a fun family activity as we can help them build it!

 

And the decorations for those that care:)  Because that is part of the fun!

 

Elmo is SO easy for decorations! Just cut some eyes, nose and a mouth on anything red and you've got decorations.  We did a red theme and gave out elmo invitations that I cut out of paper.  Absolutely everything was DIY and so easy...

these pictures were the most expensive part of the décor.  But I always like to print the monthly milestone pictures for the first birthday party, and since last year was a bit busy I didn't do it.  So that added cost to it.

one table cloth covered the entire front door and this much of the backside.

Elmo balloons are at the dollar store!! The 2 here is from a foam set we have.

The topiaries I made out of tissue paper and I cut a dowel to the size I wanted, painted it red, and stuck it in a mason jar with glass stones and some green foam. 

The bags I made for the piñata and the piñata were great additions to the decorations.  I found the little elmo loofa at the store and just stuck him in a mason jar. We actually don't own anything elmo other than books, so I didn't have a lot to set out.

Made some large tissue paper balls and hung those around.  Super duper easy!

Perfect little smile....but closed eyes.  can't get both I guess! :)

 

Also just taped some extra photos of Declan on the cupboards:)