Scott was a huge help. He and his dad (Henry) kept Gavin busy yesterday and today so that I could work on getting food ready, finish my final cleanup, get the table set (I put up the decorations last night) and finish Gavin's dessert. A lot of work but much easier not having to keep Gavin happy and entertained the entire time too. That meant that Gavin was able to get into all kinds of things that he wouldn't normally get (namely, electronic items)...
The theme for Gavin's party was The Great Pumpkin! I came across the idea and thought it was perfect because of the time of year. Unfortunately, the party supplies are very limited (in that I found all of 4 things that worked and were actually linked to the Peanuts) so I had to create a banner, some signs, his invitations (Scott was a huge help here), place cards and how to decorate his dessert. I am certainly not creative (or crafty) but I was very proud of what little I was able to put together.
Before dinner, Gavin opened his present from my parents (sorry Mom, apparently I don't have any pictures of that). They got him some cool cars/trucks that go with a ramp that talks as the cars fall down it. Gavin loves it! He loves all the little cars but he loves that it talks when they go down (and pressing the button to make it talk). He had fun playing with that with Grandma and Grandpa while I worked on the last few things for dinner and waited for Scott to finish grilling.
For food we had artichoke dip for an appetizer and for dinner we had kabobs (barbeque chicken and beef, vidalia and red onions, mushrooms, and red and green peppers), zucchini, pasta salad and baked seasoned potato fries. For dessert we had gobs (per Scott's request) and they had orange filling and were decorated as pumpkins. The food was awesome (thanks to Scott grilling!) and Gavin even ate a ton of all kinds of things, including some of the kabobs. I don't see him eat that much and ask for more often, it was awesome!
Gavin had a personalized giant (pumpkin) gob that said Happy 1st Birthday! We sang to him while he stared down the candle. He knows how to blow (he blows on warm food with me when he eats) but he didn't quite make the connection with blowing out the candle. Maybe next year!
He wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first. I gave him a little help by feeding him a little of his ice cream and gob with a spoon.
He caught on and ate quite a bit of it and loved it! He made the huge mess that he needed to for it to be a success!
After he was cleaned up, we opened Gavin's present from the Fergusons. They got him this cool "gumball" machine. It has three ways to get the balls to the bottom opening (a key that you turn, a lever that you push and a knob that you pull) and then you can put them back in on top to do it over again. Gavin loves the balls and he loves to put them in the top and throw them all over the house. It is funny to watch them roll around on the floors (that are clearly not level since there are places the ball will roll back to you) and see where they end up. Gavin loves walking around holding them too.
Gavin's two new toys are awesome and a huge hit. He loves them both!
After all the excitement of the day and the party, it was time for a bath and bed. Good thing too! I was able to finish picking up and cleaning after he was down and then I was finally able to sit down and relax for a little bit. It was a lot of work but absolutely worth it! I am so glad we decided to keep it small and just have the grandparents here. It was the perfect size for us, our house and Gavin! We had a great time together!
