2nd Birthday Barnyard Bash!

You're probably thinking Birthday?!? Yes, their actual birthday was in February but due to cold weather and it being RSV season we decided to wait to celebrate until Spring. The party happened to fall one day after their due date (May 6th)....so technically speaking it was right on time! If you know us at all or have followed the blog for any amount of time, you most likely know we (they) LOVE animals and have spent countless days at the zoo...in the goat pen in particular ;) The babies (KYLEE) has a HUGE thing for goats! It was a no-brainer to me that this year, their first "real" party, would be a barnyard theme.

Some friends of the family own a super nice party barn and were more than willing to let us host the party there. Everything about it was perfect... the open space, wooden benches, the karaoke/bar, the decor, the stringed lights, everything was just perfect! We added a few balloons, a "Pin the tail on the Goat" game and about 35 kids (mostly 2 and under - YIKES!) and we were good to go! Amy Horton with Amy Horton Photography came out and took care of ALL the pictures allowing Bret and I to actually enjoy the party. This was HUGE and I'm so thankful Amy did this for us, seriously made things so so so much easier on me and I recommend going that route to all of you moms out there! Amy - THANK YOU! Mother nature took it easy on us as well. I was a little nervous about having a party partially outside and in an unairconditioned barn in early May and was afraid we might be baking in the Texas heat. Luckily it was warm but not hot and we had a nice breeze as well!

We had a bounce house set up outside and of course what's a barnyard party without a few animals, right?! Bret and I hired Debra from Anna Acres and her two kids to come set up a small petting zoo with 2 goats, 2 chicks, 2 chickens and 2 guinea pigs! This was by far the hit of the party, the kids LOVED it! Before the party got started we had the big garage doors closed to the barn, when we went to lift them up, it just so happened there was a goat on one side of the door and little miss goat-lover-Kylee was on the other. **Perfect Moment** That door opened, Kylee laid eyes on that goat and it was as if she saw her goat in shining armor! Anymore excited and she would have fallen over no doubt. Her beautiful big blue eyes widened, her hands were shaking with excitement and she shrieked "DOAT! DOAT DOOOAAATTT!!" Bret and I both happened to be standing there and saw it all. It was by far the best moment of the party and that moment alone made all the planning and money spent totally worth it! To see our sweet girl THAT happy was priceless! We provided snack sized baggies filled with animal cookies and strips of bread for the goats and fresh veggies for the guinea pigs so the kids could feed them as well - such a hit and great, easy entertainment! All of the kids loved the animals, but Debra thought it was hilarious that our four never ever left the tent the entire time she was there!

Once we said goodbye to the animals we all enjoyed hot dogs with all the fixings that the men had been working on. Kids were playing, babies crawling, adults visiting, music playing it was everything we hoped it would be. After lunch we gathered what kids we could to play a little game of "Pin the tail on the Goat". Of the 5 who tried to play I think two actually got the point of the game :] Maybe next year! We then opened presents. I was surprised that none of the quads understood the "open presents" concept. We had a few older kids there who were more than willing to give them a hand at unwrapping!

We saved the cake for last, knowing it would be a royal mess. Like last year I ordered each of them their own small cake as well as a BIG cake for all of the guests. Bret and I want to try to make each one of them feel special on their birthday, which is hard to do when you come into the world with 3 others. Getting them each their own cake is one way of "individualizing" them along with singing the Happy Birthday song 4 times, one entire song for each of them. Their individual cakes were simple over sized cupcakes each topped with a barnyard animal that we took off and replaced with two candles when it was time to sing. The big cake was decorated as a field with an adorable barn with the animal figurines around it; a pig in the mud, cow behind the fence etc. that read "Happy 2nd Birthday Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin!" As our guests left we gave each family a custom made CD with the party music we had played throughout the party (Old Mcdonald, The Farmer in the Dell, Mary had a Little Lamb etc.) as a party favor and thank you. Each CD had a picture of the quads along with "Thank you for celebrating with us! -Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin 2011".

I've added just a few pictures from the party, you can see the entire gallery at the Amy Horton Photography website. Simply click here and use the password Quads.

A huge thank you to all who attended our party and had a hand in making it so special for our family. Mom, Dad, Bill, Anita, The Millers, Amy, Bethany and Debra - a huge thank you to you for helping in the ways that you did, it wouldn't have been a success without you! I'm excited to see what we come up with next year...hee hee :]