Par-tay

Post- party hike with friends on a beautiful morning.
The dads carrying the babies up Gregory trail.
Sharing the unwanted cupcake with dad.
Mom showing off Coranelle's new ugly doll after all the guests are gone and clean-up is done.
playing with GPS and the retro rocket.
Eating celery and ranch dressing with Grams. Look at her festive monkey shirt!
The finished cupcakes. Not perfect, but so fun!
My birthday girl!
Coranelle checking out my "new" road bike.
Steps three and four of the cupcakes.

Yesterday, we threw a party for Coranelle. It was a bit crazy, but I loved the chance to see so many wonderful people. Let me give you a recap of events. Ryan took the day off on Friday, which was great. I got to take Coranelle to her swim class again. Then, we found a wonderful, vintage road bike that was my size, being sold on Craigslist. So, my mom came out and hung out with Coranelle, busily cleaning up from my first two rounds of cupcakes and making a third one. Meanwhile, Ryan and I went in for a little date and to check out this bike. We got a yummy iced coffee at Ozo, our favorite coffee shop in Boulder and went to get the bike. Turns out, the bike is about 20 years old, but has never been ridden. It has great components and fit me perfectly. It was a very exciting find for me! The hot pink paint splashes on the bike makes it even more fun! I took it for a few rides and am thrilled about how fast it is. When all you've ever ridden is a mountain bike, a road bike is a whole new deal! I think it will really make the triathlon easier and motivate me to do more in the future.

Anyhow, back to party preparations. When we returned from Boulder, mom helped entertain Coranelle while we made frosting and began the process of making monkeys. We dipped each cupcake top in chocolate jimmies to make the hair and added chocolate cheerios for ears. Then, we frosted eyes and muzzles on each cupcakes, added mini m&m's for eyes, sliced craisins for nostrils and then frosted the mouths and bows. It was quite the process, but a blast. Ryan and I just laughed as some monkeys turned out with real... well, personality. They were not picture perfect, but fun and it was my first experience making cupcakes from scratch- all three kinds: banana, banana chocolate and vanilla. Next, we mowed, and began cleaning the house.

Saturday, after bikerides, preparations continued. We cleaned the house, bought alcohol, and began setting up the chips, sides, drinks, lawn chairs, etc. Ryan decorated the whole house with streamers and balloons. Right before the party began, I broke down into tears when I heard that my brother was not coming to the party. But, Mom and Steve showed up and got me calmed down before the guests arrived. (Why is preparing for parties so stressful?) Regardless, I was amazed and so thankful for all the kind people who made an effort to come to the party. We had family drive from Co Springs, Boulder, Longmont, Louisville and Ft. Collins to celebrate! In all, we had 32 adults and 9 kids- so it was wonderful.

Keep in mind, when I pictured the party, I imagined everyone chatting outside in our backyard, enjoying their beers, brats and the sunshine. I had parents bring lawn chairs and was so excited to have the kids use the slide. Much to my dismay, that was not how things turned out. Despite the forecast of 82 degrees, the skies were turning black and the wind was picking up. At 6:30, the skies opened up and hail started smashing against the house. Marble sized hail was not in the pictures that my head conjured up for this party. So, many many people were squeezed into our not so large house. People were eating on the floor and constantly trying to get up and down the stairs with our three baby gates. The babies were crawling on top of one another and fighting for toys, while the guests crossed their fingers that their cars weren't outside receiving hail damage. I think the cars fared alright, and everyone coped well with the tight quarters.

Coranelle did not really want to have anything to do with her highchair or her banana chocolate cupcake and 2 dozen spectators. Overall, she was pretty happy being entertained by grandparents and friends. She, of course, had no idea what the hoopla was all about, but the chaos turned out to be fun.

Once again, I am so thankful for all the people who were here to celebrate with us and who made a big deal out of a silly one year old birthday party. We had lots of fantastic people bringing delicious sides and doing everything they could to help us out. She's got a great network of people supporting her and that makes me so so happy.