Surprise Daddy-o! [Part 2]

Hello Tuesday! Today, I'm sharing the second part of my Dad's 50th birthday party. Last Thursday, I talked about the planning aspects; you can read that post HERE. I'm sharing everything about the actual party today. I tried to get a little bit of everything - the decor, the fabulous lights, the guests, the food, the games, the dancing, etc. There was a lot of going on! And I have to kick off this post by saying a HUGE thank you to our family friends Peter and Hannah. They took all of these pictures! I asked them before hand if they could be on camera duty for the night, and they crushed it! They got a little bit of everything and I am so glad we have these pictures!

I realize I'm starting this post off with a shout out to our photographers & there might be a lot of that in this post. We have the most wonderful family & friends and they really rallied around us to hold this party together. So, lots of pictures and lots of shout outs in this post!

Surprise Daddy-o! [Part 1]

Months and months ago (I think it was October, 2017 - yes, I like to plan in advance!), I started thinking about hosting a surprise party for my Dad's 50th birthday. His birthday isn't actually until September 4th, but we thought the best way to surprise him (and accommodate people coming from out of town) would be to host it a little bit early. So, we picked a date and we started working from there. We booked a hall, we started researching caterers and as everything started falling into place, I arranged our poetry magnets on the fridge to say this:

I put these two magnets together in December and then got to work on this fun surprise! Today, I will document everything that happened before the party. I will share all the planning details from the invites and the RSVPs to the decor in this first post. Next week, I will talk about the actual party in another post! I had this all written up as one big post, but friends, it was long! I mean, too long. So, I cut in the most logical way I could think of - the planning and the actual party. Let's get to it!

A Tea Party Game

When I posted about the Bean's tea party back in March, I shared the details about the decor and the food in one post, then I talked about the games in a separate post. Most all of the games are ones that I had posted about before, so I was able to link to a detailed description. But, one game was a new one that we found just for this party! We called it the -tea game and used words that end with the 'tea' sound (even though most of them actually end with -ty).

To prep for this game before the party, all you'll need is a list of words that end with the 'tea' sound. I printed out a list and kept it organized with all of other party games. I will share the set of words that I used, but note that I used these words with 13-14 year old girls, you might need to choose some different words depending on your audience! All I did was Google words that end with 'ty' then I chose a bunch of words from that list and noted them along with their definition. I tried to choose words that were age appropriate, but I also tried to choose definitions that were age appropriate! I wasn't searching through the Oxford dictionary for these definitions! Heck, I even used the Urban dictionary for one definition!

Below is the list of words that I used. Feel free to use this list exactly or make adjustments as you see fit!

The Bean's Tea Party - The Games!

Last weekend, the Bean had her tea party and if I do say so myself, it was fabulous! I shared all about the tea party last week. You can read that post HERE. Today, I'm talking about the games I used at the party. Some of them, I've shared as a post and some of them are new. If I have posted about them, I will link to them. If I have not posted them, I will give a quick little recap and post about them in the future if they need further expanding. Make sense? As always, if you have questions, let me know!

The Bean's Tea Party

I am so excited to finally be sharing this post! The Bean turned 14 earlier in March but we celebrated her birthday with her friends this past Saturday. I will share all the little details from the party, but first a little introduction to the Bean! I talk about her pretty often but I don't think I've ever formally introduced her!

The Bean is my younger sister. And when I say younger, I mean younger +++! There is about a 7 1/2 year age gap between her and I. So while we are sisters, we are not your usual set of sisters - we don't share clothing, we hardly ever argue and she would probably tell you that I'm more like a third parent than a sister. The Bean does have a real name, but I've decided to keep that on the down low until she decides she's ready to introduce herself.  We filmed a couple Boomerangs after the Bean's party and I think these two wrap her up perfectly...

Party Games: The Game of Phones

Today, I'm sharing a party game. This is something that I started doing very early on with my blog (I think a party game may have even been my first post!). I love planning parties and one of my favorite parts of planning is picking the games! Depending on the theme of the Bean's birthday, I try to plan games that fit the theme. When she had a candy party; it was easy! It was candy everything! This year, she is having a tea party. I don't think games are typically played at traditional tea parties. However, since her friends will be in dresses, I'm trying to plan games that are a little more easy going. You know, no jumping or climbing! This game totally fits the bill. All you need is a list of requirements (I'll detail that below) and a group of guests who all have phones! Here is how you play...

Jammy Cocoa Christmas Party 2017

This past Saturday was my family's Jammy Cocoa Christmas Party. It was a quieter party this year, but it was still so much fun! I love gathering with my favorite people to celebrate Christmas! I blogged about our Jammy Cocoa Christmas Party last year. You can find that post HERE. We didn't do anything crazy different this year but I thought I would share it again!

For starters, we ask everyone to come in their Christmas jammies. When we hosted this party a few years ago, people were super skeptical. The kids all came in PJ's but the adults came is regular clothing. I am so proud to say that we have converted them all! Everyone comes in PJ's and I love it! We start the party every year at 6:30pm, so people eat dinner before they come then at the party we only serve dessert (hot chocolate and doughnuts). This feels like a major win in many ways - prepping a meal for a large number of people is hard and with Christmas quickly approaching, that is exactly what I wanted to avoid! Yes, making the doughnuts and hot chocolate requires time, but I think it's easier for my family to prepare than making a full meal.

Tea Pary Pinspiration

The Bean is turning 14 in March and I'm starting to think about her party. I know, I'm 6 months early! But I really do start thinking about her birthday around this time every year! I like to have an idea in mind so I know what we're working towards. I only do the major planning details around January (like invitations, guest lists...), but I like to start a Pinterest board and start looking around for some little things we may need much earlier!

Pancakes & Pajamas Party - The Food

The Bean's birthday was last Saturday and it was the biggest success! Yesterday, I talked all about the games and today and talking all about the food! We did a pancake bar for the girls and had some french silk pie instead of cake - it was all a hit! Let's start with the pancake bar!

I made my favorite pancakes. You can find the recipe HERE. The link to the recipe is actually for blueberry pancakes, but if you want plain pancakes like these, just leave out the blueberries. The pancakes without the blueberries are just as delicious. 

Pancakes & Pajamas Party - The Games

I have been promising a post about the Bean's party since last week and it is finally here! Today, I'm sharing the games we played and tomorrow all be talking all about the food!

The girls arrived at 11:00 for brunch. once they were through with the pancake bar, we played the lap game. This is my third time animating the lap game and it is just as good every time. The girls get a kick out of it and it is so funny to watch too! You can find a more detailed description of how I do the lap game HERE.

Jammy Cocoa Christmas Party 2016

My family had our Jammy Cocoa Christmas Party this past Saturday and we had so much fun! Here is how we host this party...

First, we ask everyone to come for 6:30 in their favorite Christmas jammies. The picture above is the Bean and I in our matching pajamas. We ordered these pajama bottoms from The Company Store last August and we paired the bottoms with a Pajama top that we got a couple of years ago. I highly recommend The Company Store for Family Pajamas! They are very reasonably priced, especially if you order them off season. You can find their selection of PJs HERE!

Popcorn Party Favor

This weekend, a sweet friend of mine celebrated her birthday and I got to help out with the party! I will be sharing little bits of her party this week and I'm starting with the party favors.