Last Saturday we celebrated Dexter's fourth birthday party with a brunch and carousel party at Coolidge Park. He loved every minute of it. As we drove to the park that morning, the smell of eggs and bacon wafting up from the trays in the trunk, he could not stop giggling. "It smells so GOOD!" he declared, "This is my dream come true!" "Pinterest-worthy birthday parties" are so regularly held up for public ridicule as the shining example of over-parenting run amok. It is widely believed that the parent behind them is a slave to craft tutorials and internet fantasy and just needs the right person to remind them that 'oh, you know, kids don't need fancy things to be happy, silly' before they go frolicking through open fields, shedding hot glue guns and color coordinated fabric banners like the prison chains, giddy with freedom. False. I certainly cannot speak for anyone else, and the birthday parties I throw are far from glamorous or perfect, but I absolutely love every minute of planning and executing parties for my kids. About 99% of the time I am a firm believer in simplistic parenting. Ask anyone if my kids have the latest and greatest anything; the answer is a big, fat nope. I have no problems throwing my kids in the backyard or saying no to that cool new toy that so-and-so has and "boredom is good for your brain" is a daily mantra in my house, but on their birthday... I just want it to be dreams come true. Maybe it is because the day that my kids were born was a dream come true for me. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a mother... and, even if it is not all happily every after, each day that one of my boys made his way into the world.. is one of my very best days. Maybe I just want to share the same feeling of wonder and excitement I felt then with them now. So sue me. So, Dexter wanted carousels and breakfast foods for his fourth birthday party and we made that dream come true. Everything was red and gold with splashes of blue. We only had about 20 minutes to set up the room so decorations were minimal. The carousel spinning magically in the background made up for it though. We served eggs, bacon, croissants, ham and cheese roll-ups, vegan hash brown casserole, fruit kabobs, bagels with cream cheese, butter and jelly, and donuts, of course. I also made a simple "brunch punch" and purchased "joe-to-go" jugs from Milk and Honey because if you are going to throw a children's birthday party at 10:00 a.m., you best serve darn good coffee. The cupcakes were vegan and gluten-free and made by me, and a shout-out to Ryan who stayed up most of the night assembling our adorable homemade carousel cupcake toppers.... but the very best part was still Dexter's little cake. Our Kayleigh made this cake. It was so perfect. The frosting was homemade. It even actually spun! If you want an amazing cake, you should harass her on Facebook because her talent cannot continue to go unnoticed. We love you so much, Kayleigh! Thank you! Also, if you happen to want this EXACT cake, I even returned the cake topper because I could stand to think of it languishing in storage rather than giving another kid the look of amazement Dexter had. After food and cake and singing "happy birthday," it was time to ride the carousel. We had plenty of tickets for everyone! It turns out it is somewhat challenging to take photographs of people on carousels. Once everyone was sufficiently dizzy, we moved outside so that Dexter could be spoiled with presents and so that everyone could finish up the party by playing in the fountains! We passed out carousel coloring books as favors and that was that. Another Haddock birthday party complete! Dexter, I hope your birthday party was everything you dreamed it would be. I had so much fun planning it with you. I love celebrating you because you make me infinitely happy.
Happy birthday, four year old! You are so, so loved.
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WHO AM I?
I am Michelle: a wannabe hippie in love with a bonafide geek. We also spawned. I spend my days with our four wild, beautiful boy children and I overshare about our life online because I am a Millennial and that is what we do.
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