It was a success! We hosted Gardner's birthday party last Saturday and had such a fantastic turn out of family and friends. Everyone around me was incredibly helpful, from Jerry vacuuming and power washing, to my mom making her delicious spinach salad, to my mother-in-law running to the store for some last minute food. Take a look at some of the photos!

The Theme

I was so proud of the monkey theme! We put up a few streamers, had "monkey themed" food, and plates and napkins to match. The centerpiece of the food display was the monkey cake made by my amazing friend Erin! 

The Setup

Jerry and I are so proud of our flexible space in our house. People were able to spread out, but still come together for food, cake, and presents. We put all the presents in the front room, but had the food setup on our dining room table, and room in the back for some of the kids to play. 

The Food

This party had a smorgasbord of food and many of the items were "monkey-inspired". This included sliced wraps, aptly titled, "Monkey Tails", "Swingin' Spinach Salad", "Fruit Vines", "Twigs" a.k.a. pretzel rods,  and "Jungle Juice" (not the kind you remember from college, just lemonade). 

The Cake Smash

Although it took Gardner a little bit of coaxing him to eat his smash cake, he eventually dug in! Though we tried to show him first!

Fun For All

The party was a great success. Gardner now has lots of new toys and snazzy clothing to wear. He even received some money for his college fund! Jerry and I got to see people that we had not seen in awhile and it was so wonderful to catch up with everyone.  We are so blessed to have such loving friends and family in our lives!

I avoided "hostess neurosis" (as I referenced in a previous post), and can't wait for another year of excitement with #LittleGardnerMerritt! Now we will just have to think about the theme for next year's party.