A Truly Wonderful 2nd Birthday - Final Thoughts

Almost two months have passed since Anderson’s 2^nd birthday, so it’s time to wrap up the birthday fun with final pictures and thoughts on the food, décor and fun at her pink and gold Minnie birthday party.  I had planned on spending more time describing the details, and the many hours that went into the planning and execution of Miss A’s 2^nd birthday, but work, family and life have gotten in the way of finding time to share all of the celebration fun.  So here goes some final thoughts ...

A couple months before Anderson's 2nd birthday I spent some time searching sites to find a pink and gold Minnie invitation.  Luckily, Etsy had a great invitation that was exactly what I was looking for.  The invitations were pink and gold with Minnie Mouse heads, and also came with cupcake toppers and food display tags – all of which were items that I used to add to the pink and gold Minnie décor on the day of the party.

The weeks leading up to the party were spent creating pink and gold Minnie décorations.  Another easy, and fairly, quick project was decorating a number “2” in pink paper and ribbon to sit on the mantel.  It only took one episode of “Real Housewives of New York” to finish this project. 

As for the silly Styrofoam Minnie centerpieces, it took many episodes of Bravo reality shows to completely finish these lovely decorations.  I spray painted Styrofoam balls for hours, and then after drying would notice they had shriveled up to about half the size.  Our new neighbors probably re-thought the purchase of their house overhearing a conversation about the shriveling Styrofoam balls between JC and I.  After many coats of spray paint on those despised Styrofoam balls, and planters, and hot gluing my fingers together multiple times making ribbons, the final product was finally done.  As a reminder to myself that I can be crafty, and also patient, when needed, I kept the Minnie Mouse head centerpieces and have a couple displayed in Anderson’s new playroom.

Family members pitched in to help with the decorations for the celebration.  The pink and gold Minnie banner across the mantel (in the picture above) was made by Anderson's creative Mimi (my Mom)for our birthday girl.  My talented sister-in-law also made the "Welcome" sign for the celebration.  It is now displayed on the door leading into Anderson’s new play room. 

A Minnie Mouse head birthday cake, and Minnie -themed food, finished out the preparations for a very successful party.

The person the birthday party was all about, Miss A, was dressed in the cutest birthday outfit.  She had a pink and gold Minnie "2" shirt with glitter gold shorts.  She looked absolutely adorable and the outfit totally fit our little diva. 

Even though preparations for this 2^nd birthday party were much more stressful due to other events going on the weekends leading up to the birthday, it was, in my opinion, an even better party than Miss A’s first.  Maybe because she could actually understand the party was for her.  Or maybe because of her excitement after seeing all of the Minnie decorations; whatever the reason was, Anderson’s 2^nd birthday was a truly wonderful day to be her Mommy.

It's the Little Things ...

It’s the little things in life that make the journey special and memorable.  For a two year old, the little things are big things, making it fairly easy to please them.

To make our little 2 year old birthday girl’s day special we kept it pretty simple, with a toddler requested breakfast of French toast.  For a little something special we added a candle to kick off her celebrations, and give her a extra practice blowing out her candles after singing the “happy birthday” song.  Eating breakfast together was extra special for me because a morning meal together is rare during the week.  Anderson is usually still snoozing when I head for work in the morning.

Even though we weren’t able to spend the whole day with Anderson, we sent her off with some sweet treats to share with her friends at daycare.  Miss A helped me decorate the cupcakes, and really enjoyed the leftover icing.

Another little, but big thing, was being able to spend time together as a family of three during the evening.  JC usually works until close to seven every evening, so he took some time off to celebrate our special girl.  She had a surprise visit from both Mom and Dad at daycare, before heading to the pool to soak up the last few days of pool fun.  Miss A got to jump off the diving board, shoot water guns at her Dad, stomp ants (which are a huge nuisance to her), and swim!

A favorite meal (cheese tortellini), more birthday cake and candle fun, and more presents topped off the day.  Anderson loved her new pink convertible; however it’s operating as more of a bumper car at the moment until she gets the hang of driving. 

Anderson’s special day, celebrating her two years of life, wasn’t anything especially extraordinary, but it was filled with many of the things she loves, many of the people she loves, doing things she loves – which makes it a great day!

Miller Park Zoo, Bloomington

Our family has become zoo fanatics since welcoming our daughter into the world less than two years ago.  For the past two summers we have become members of the Scovill Zoo in Decatur.  This means we provide a donation to the zoo which allows for countless zoo visits.  Another perk to the Scovill Zoo pass is that there are reciprocal zoos that offer discounts to those with a Scovill Zoo pass.

A rainy day in May we decided to try out the reciprocal benefit of our zoo membership and head north to Bloomington’s Miller Park Zoo.  We had heard great things about the zoo and wanted to check it out ourselves.

Miller Park Zoo is very similar to Scovill Zoo.  It is also a smaller, compact location, but there were many new animals that we were able to see on this trip.  When we entered the zoo we went through the enclosure that housed the wallabies, and kangaroos.  Only a small fence separated the animals from zoo patrons.  Anderson was fascinated with how close she was able to get to the animals relaxing in the grass. 

Monkeys, reindeer and sea lions were also on our stops before the rain hit.  Luckily the zoo has a great building where a rainforest is housed, and the tigers, snow leopards and sun bear were kept.  We were able to stay dry, while visiting these interesting animals and exhibits.

By the time we waited out the rain, and visited our favorite animals our toddler’s attention span for the zoo was running short.  Luckily we had circled back to the front of Miller Park Zoo, rounding out our experience.  

Because we had a hungry girl on our hands we were not able to explore the park across the street from the zoo.  It had a great playground, and even a small splash pad.  Paddle boats, walking paths and pretty lake views are also all part of the Miller Park experience.  On our next trip we will plan on taking advantage of all of the other great aspects of the park that the rain, and hungry toddler, kept us from on our first trip.

What spending a week with a toddler in Mexico will teach you.

When reflecting on our first vacation as a family of three out of the country it is easy to dwell on the negative points of the trip because there were a few.  Instead of being a “Negative Nancy” about the trip I’ve tried to think of it as a learning experience.  Many of the things I learned on the trip were interesting, and also pretty positive.  Here we go:

*Children are little celebrities.  No matter what gender, race, or behavior, bringing a toddler to a resort makes them an instant mini celebrity.  In Anderson’s best moments when she was showing off her talking skills and other newly acquired personality traits, she was the star of the resort.  We had people come up to us on our final days and comment on how they loved watching Miss A at the pool throughout the week.  If you need an overall confidence booster, take a toddler to a resort.

*Toddlers are little people, with big personalities.  Some of Anderson’s happiest times on the trip were when she had an audience while she ran through parts of the resort, or splashed in the baby pool.  Before going to Mexico we knew she was an independent little diva, but we didn’t realize just how independent she was.  She insisted on walking on her own wherever we were going, and expected us to follow her schedule at all times.  For those that know her, this isn’t much different than behavior at home, just magnified since there was so much walking and new things to explore.  Our little toddler tested her limits in so many ways on this trip, which resulted in a few time outs being enforced.

*Being at a Mexican resort required laser focus on our girl.  The room consisted of marble floors and hard, wood furniture.  The pool area was a wet, busy area that Anderson loved to run through.  No matter where we went, there was always a very dangerous encounter creating images of a very scary end result if we weren’t paying extreme attention to Miss A.  Our beloved Minnie Mouse doll almost took a dive into the flamingo pond.  Being on high alert was a necessity to make sure our beloved little girl didn’t join in on that fun adventure.

*What did parents do before electronics?  Obviously I realize there are other, much better activities, to have a toddler engage in to keep them occupied.  But in today’s society, many people are used to having at least some TV time.  At our house that means an episode (or two) of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  In Mexico, MMC, wasn’t available for watching.  Thank you Apple and Disney for providing a short relief for two tired parents.

*Parents who play with their children attract other kids whose parents don’t.  At various times we had one to two other little kids wanting to hang out with us while we splashed in the water with our daughter. 

*Spending almost an entire week, uninterrupted, with our daughter really showed me how much we miss out on during normal work weeks.  Those extra hugs, laughs and memories made were so special during that week since it was a luxury to be spending so much time as a family, rather than spending it at work.

*Going away for a Mexico vacation with a toddler would not have crossed my mind if I didn’t have a supportive partner.  We gave each other short breaks to head to the pool bar, read a book or not be on parent danger alert.  Those small breaks were always much needed, and appreciated.

*By far the biggest lesson I learned was to relax, have a sense of humor and make the best of any situation.  Our rooms weren’t as expected, the flight home was completely horrific and the challenges of taking a toddler on a big vacation were much more than we’d ever expected.  But we’ve lived and learned from the entire experience and become much more seasoned and patient parents in the process.

Toddler Fun at the Terre Haute Children's Museum

In one place, kids have the opportunity to try out being a farmer, veterinarian, construction worker and TV weather person.  Of course, our busy little toddler did not miss an opportunity to try out all of these trades, plus more, at the Terre Haute Children’s Museum this spring.

In Central Illinois, and surrounding areas we may not have beautiful beach views, or picturesque mountains, but we do have some pretty great Children’s Museums.  After hearing positive reviews of the Children’s Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana near my parents’ home, I decided it was a “must do” on our short travel adventures list.

When we started our adventure at the Children’s Museum, a doll house and child’s bedroom set up welcomed us.  Miss A wanted nothing to do with that and quickly walked through that area.  She’s not normally a doll kind of girl, and is more interested in exploring hands-on things, which is why the next exhibit we encountered was perfect for her: a dinosaur fossil dig area.  The cut up rubber pieces were perfect to allow for our girl to do some exploring, without getting dirty (thank you Terre Haute Children’s Museum for that!).

After checking out everything on the first floor we moved on to the second floor, which was definitely the favorite.  Some very loud, and wet kids, made us quickly move on from the water table exhibit.  Grocery shopping, a toddler play area, and farming area were all fun to explore.

On the third, and final floor, Anderson played in the home building and construction area.  We bribed her into taking a picture on the TV News desk for her dad who was not able to join us.  She wanted nothing to do with the green wall in the Weather area.  If this is any indication for a future career, Miss A wants nothing to do with weather, or TV News.  I’m completely okay (and relieved) at that.

The final area that was the most fun for our girl was the Animal Hospital.  She didn’t care too much about the stuffed dogs in the cages, but she did want to answer phones and type on the computer.  She sat at the reception desk answering the phone, asking for people and then saying “bye” and hanging up, for the longest time.

Before we knew it, we had almost spent three hours at the Children’s Museum.  For our busy toddler, who normally has an extremely short attention span, this was a huge surprise once we realized how long we’d been discovering the Museum.  One final trip to the now deserted water table, which resulted in a very wet and cranky toddler after we made her leave, wrapped up our trip to the Terre Haute Children’s Museum.

 

Even though our family has spent several days at various zoos and Children’s Museums, it never grows old.  I know it’s not the exhibits that make the trips so special, but the little girl and other family members that I get to share the trip with.  

Exploring the Decatur Children's Museum

The endless cold and piles of snow have kept us cooped in side for far too long in the Midwest.  The indoor activities are becoming very redundant and I cringe anymore when Mickey Mouse saunters onto the television screen with his big goofy grin and wave.  M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E has been stuck in my head too many times to count this winter.  It’s all just getting a little O-L-D.

Aside from pulling the plug on the Disney Junior channel, and ultimately Mickey for my sanity, which would break Miss A’s heart, we needed something to do to get out of the house this past weekend.  After a grumpy toddler meltdown, we bundled up and headed to the local Children’s Museum (with her Minnie Mouse doll in hand, of course).  We had been there once before baby when we were volunteering with Big Brothers, Big Sisters; however that had been many years ago and things are so much more special when experiencing them through the eyes of your own child.

In our grand plan of getting out of the house, we failed to check the Children’s Museum website and ultimately chose a really bad day for our first outing.  The parking lot was packed when we arrived.  Maybe it’s just a birthday party, we said with optimism.  The crowded lot would not destroy our cold day adventure.

Once we entered the building, packed with parents, toddlers and teenagers, we quickly learned it was not a birthday party, but a special event day which drew a huge crowd.  Since we were already there we decided to make the best of the day.  

Anderson clung to JC’s shoulders as she was overwhelmed with the sights, sounds and number of kids running around the space. Once she decided to join in the crazy, loud fun, she found that she loved the “choo choo.”  The hanging train display rolled through a path around the climbing jungle gym.  Another favorite was the new Seed to Shelf area, where she got to throw the fruits and vegetables into their designated bins in the grocery store.  She also liked pushing the grocery cart around and finding food to buy.  The water table was another hit.

Miss A suffered a hit too.  She was gleefully running between the exhibits and got football tackled by a bigger kid, also running between displays.  The kid apologized and felt very badly.  Anderson quickly recovered herself and went back to playing.  She’s a resilient little thing, and was having too much fun to let a tackle by a big kid keep her down.  

We did not get to explore much of the second floor exhibits as that was where the special event was being held.  It was pure madness upstairs with teenagers running around screaming.  When we tried to venture upstairs to check it out, we quickly decided it wasn't worth the headache.

Overall, we really enjoyed the Decatur Children’s Museum and will definitely go back to visit, but not before checking the website for the special events calendar!  Lesson learned there.