Thursday, November 25, 2010

Owen Turns 1 - part two

We were so lucky to be able to throw Owen's First Birthday Party exactly the way we envisioned it. It was a lot of time and effort, but *so* worth it. We put a lot of love into it. It was such a fun day and is a day we'll always look back on as one of the best days we've ever had.
Nuno and I had lots of ideas on how to custom make decorations for Owen's party. Most of what we used was purchased from the dollar store or made by us, so it really wasn't a huge investment - by our party throwing standards.
Here is the upstairs party spread. I made a Cherry Bomb Punch, a bowl full of red and blue salt water taffy from our trip to Florida, homemade Chex Mix and had a few of the Everyday Food appetizers and cupcakes I blogged about in the last entry.

The salt water taffy didn't go over too well at the party so I brought the rest with me to work and everyone at the office loved it. It was blue raspberry and red licorice flavoured.
We had a monthly time line of Owen photos.
Since there were a few older kids attending we decided to give magnetic colouring sheets with crayons as favours. Adults took home robot magnets.
There was a ton of food, more than enough to feed our 50 guests. It included broasted chicken, potatoes, penne & meatballs, cabbage rolls, salads and dinner rolls.
Owen wasn't in the best birthday spirits during his baby party, but a quick nap did the trick and he was in a tip-top shape when it came time to eat. 
 He ate Aunt Maggie's couscous salad and potatoes. 

 Then it came time for the cake.
Nuno and I ordered a sheet cake and carved into the shape of the knitted robot. I have to give all the credit to Nuno on accomplishing this and his commitment to fondant (when I thought it was beyond our skills). He nailed it.
He even molded Owen's first birthday candle.
Once the candle was lit Owen knew something special was about to happen.
He loved the birthday song.
And when it came to the cake...
well his face says it all.
"Nom-Nom"
We made sure his first birthday cake was his first taste of chocolate.
If chocolate cake, vanilla cupcakes and sugar cookies weren't enough, I also made a couple batches of David Lebovitz's Malted Milk Ice Cream. You need ice cream with cake and this flavour is a really nice accompaniment to chocolate cake. It had bits of crushed Whoppers in it. Everyone loved it and, surprisingly, malt is a flavour that is quite unfamiliar to people. I think most people thought it was milkshake flavoured ice cream.
 
The gifts Owen received were quite staggering. We are very humbled by our family and friend's generosity.
Owen loves his toys and is very stylish for day care.

Every evening Owen plays and reads until bed time. 
I'd say he's a lucky little one year old.

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