party decor and details

Welcome and come in to see all the rest of Owen's second birthday party details.

Our inspiration for this party came from our repeated viewings of Yo Gabba Gabba. And as much as we tried to exercise restraint, Nuno and I are always brimming with ideas. So much so that we find it VERY difficult to know our limitations.

But we have fun doing things like this, so I'm sure it shows.

For Owen's birthday we had a party with all of his friends from my group of mom friends. This was a party separate from the family & close friends party to be held afterward. We offered food, games and activities geared towards 2 year olds. Parties with 2 years olds don't always need structure, but we did want everyone to have a memorable experience so we offered up a couple of games. 

The first game was a pin the unibrow on Broobee. Naturally, the kids weren't blind-folded. We asked the kids where they thought Brobee's eyebrows should go and had a bit of success with this game. Owen rocked it as if he'd been a ringer, but he saw it for the first time with all the other kids.

The other game we played was an animal dance card game which was a game that appeared on the episode 'Animals'. Nuno created the animal dance cards and the kids were to dance in the style of the animal shown on the card. We just played along with the segment on TV.

We printed of piles off colouring sheets with decorative frame borders printed on them. This was inspired by the Yo Gabba Gabba segments Mark Mothersbaugh hosts where his illustrations come to life.

The loot bags were modeled after each of the five characters from Yo Gabba Gabba. 

Inside the kids received a magic ball friend, Owen's second birthday magnet, Animal Dance Cards, President's Choice Banana Penguin Soft Cookie and Yo Gabba Gabba Stickers. 

The kids all wore Brobee Spikes which were head bands crafted with three trimmed red party hats on top.

Owen was just adorable on his birthday. He was quite the party animal running around and having fun with his cousin Ronan. He thanked everyone personally for their gifts and gave lots of big hugs.

owen's second birthday cake

Owen's second birthday was a total blast. I'd like to share some party details. To start: Owen's birthday cake. 

The cake theme was Yo Gabba Gabba's Birthday episode. 

 In the episode, Brobee reminisces about his second birthday where he enjoyed a bowl of spaghetti. 

Thus, this was our inspiration for Owen's cake. 

Brobee was 4 layers of vanilla cake with vanilla butter cream filling. 

 The stump in Brobeeland is chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream filling. 

The bowl of spaghetti is fondant through an exturder. The meatballs are Tim Horton's chocolate Timbits. The volume in the bowl is trimmed cake from the Brobee and stump.

Owen wasn't quite sure how to blow out his candles, but he knows how to sing Happy Birthday. And most importantly he knew it was his celebration.

And he loved his cake. In true fashion Owen goes for the biggest piece first.

labour day party

Last night was a bar-b-que & bonfire at our friends Karissa & Kevin's place. Nuno and I brought along this broccoli salad I saw on Anna Olson's show 'Fresh'. What do you know but Jaya brought a variation of the exact same salad! But you can never have too much of a good thing.

Looking back I think I should add that although this was a bbq & bonfire, it was also a dessert party. There were two different delicious cakes. Karissa made a spiced bunt with a fragrant apple compote and Katie made a rich (which I wouldn't normally use to describe a cake - but for this - it was appropriate) strawberry cake.
I don't know, but this summer feels like it's going out with a bang with this killer weather. Nuno and I are going to try and get the last little bit out of it by picnicking tonight. We deserve it after a grueling day of car cleaning and back breaking weed pulling.