A busy birthday

Trampoline jumping at 5:30 am

Working on showing two with his hands

Ready for a toy store run

Tough decisions

Feeling like a little king

Mowing the lawn with his new mower

Poppa came home early! Putting a trailer on his cozy coupe.

Testing it out

Ready to go

Test drive

Ice cream

Family self portrait

My boy turns two

Roscoe's birthday party was at Kidwell Farm this year, a working farm from the 1950's. I think he was in Roscoe heaven.

We rented a small classroom on the property and went with a classic picnic theme. Make-your-own sandwiches with homemade bread, peanut butter, jelly, nutella, and marshmallow fluff. Fresh fruit, milk, and chips rounded out the menu. It was a big hit for the kids, of course, but the adults didn't seem to mind at all a fluffernutter throwback.

We passed around slices of chocolate cake while Roscoe opened his gifts. The room filled with song as he opened the last of his presents and since Roscoe has become a huge fan of vanilla ice cream we topped a heaping bowl with his birthday candle which he blew out all on his own--practice makes perfect. Farm animal masks and hand tattoos made for great entertainment.

We took a collective walk down a dusty road bordered on both sides by green pasture. At the end was a barn full of Spring babies. The kids explored, the adults chased after the kids, and we even got to observe a cow milking. I learned that they use the milk from their dairy cow to feed all the baby animals on the farm. A milkshare, if you will!

Next, we boarded a tractor-pulled wagon to tour the property. Merritt had slept soundly through most of the day, but as the wagon lunged forward he gave a little stir and quickly made it clear that his belly was in need of some food.

An afternoon on the farm was the perfect way to celebrate our little nature boy, to relish in his growth over the last year, and to welcome the start of his third year (I can't believe it).

Party invites

I am a huge fan of Tiny Prints. The design selection is unreal (truly a design for everyone), photos can be uploaded directly to the site to create a fully customizable product (that is gorgeous, if I do say so myself--especially with photos in color). They have been a favorite of ours for holiday cards, birth announcements and, more recently, greeting cards.

Last year as I searched high and low for Roscoe's first birthday party invites, I found Paper Culture. Their designs are modern, fresh, and so undeniably playful that I couldn't resist. I love how they offer thank you notes (and other accessories) to match their invites, and their customer service is impressive--they worked with me to change the color of the gorilla's behind to better match Roscoe's party color scheme. At the time, they were the only shop in the market with direct-to-recipient mailing--which really is convenient! We also got to write a personal message to our invitees on the back, and the company plants a tree with every order (can't argue with that!). Oh, and the weight of the card stock, with it's big rounded edges, leaves a very nice impression--I didn't want to put them down.

This year, I was hoping to redeem a credit that I have with Paper Culture--ever money conscious these days now that I'm (almost) a stay at home mom--but with an open mind I surveyed the online stationary landscape looking for just the perfect invitation for Roscoe's second birthday party.

All this to say that Tiny Prints won me over again (and again for Merritt's birth announcement, but that's another post!). I knew this invite was the invite as soon as I spied it. I'll have to try again with Paper Culture when Fall rolls back around. Either way, you can't go wrong, and while I'm at it, I'll tell you that I'm dying to buy something from Minted. Their birth announcements are so classy.

Behold Roscoe's 2nd birthday invitation:

The use of color, the party hats, the beaming little piggy in the corner. It's just perfect for our birthday boy. And I was happy to have space to jot down the itinerary.

A nice thing about planning a party on a farm is that 75% of the details are already decided given the location, which leaves me with only a few choices to make around decorations and of course the menu is on my mind. Roscoe has requested chocolate ice cream, and a chocolate chip cake, though I have a feeling that he may change his fickle toddler mind a few times between now and then. I'm happy to oblige him, either way. Plus, a chocolate chip cake sounds like a baker's challenge!