It was our youngest’s first birthday a week ago. We had a very low-key day on Monday. We took him to buy a new toy and then spent most of the morning and afternoon walking around the Manitoba Museum. We had pasta for supper and picked up cake from Baked Expectations and then the boys had baths and story time then bed. Lovely little family time.

Our real plans for his birthday party were this past Saturday. We originally wanted to have his birthday party at mine and Jesse’s favourite park in this city, Crescent Drive Park. There is a lovely canopy there with picnic tables and it truly is the nicest hidden gem in Winnipeg in my opinion. You cannot rent the canopy there. It is one of the only picnic spots/shelters you cannot rent. It is first come first serve. I did a baby shower for my good friend Jerrica under the canopy a few years ago and it was such an amazing little spot. We liked the idea of the canopy being there in case of rain or other bad weather. It’s a really nice shelter. I made the invitations and sent them out. Of course while driving by one day I noticed the whole thing was under construction. Then another friend told me “Oh yeah by the way they’re demolishing the whole thing and rebuilding a brand new canopy and the project is going to take weeks.” Of course just our luck.

Originally last year I had decided that I wanted to do his birthday party at McKittrick Park. It is the cutest little park in our neighbourhood, South Osborne. They have the best wading pool and from July to September the kids and I love to visit just up the street. The park has cute little picnic spots, a grill, playgrounds for the kids, a pretty forested area and this little mini track perfect for biking or riding a scooter. They do not have any sheltered area which is why I ended up ultimately picking Crescent. It’s hard to do a birthday party outside because you never know what the weather will be like. We had no plan B so it would have been really nice to have a shelter in case of rain. But ultimately we did end up deciding on McKittrick Park because we had no choice. Jesse was able to get a tent from his work which was a great help. Of course the weather was calling for rain all week on Saturday. We debated multiple times on just cancelling the party but ultimately I decided to remain positive and hopeful that the weather would turn in our favour.

We decided instead of an afternoon barbecue we would do aa morning brunch instead. 10-12:30 and in hindsight I would have rather done the birthday from 11-1:30 but it all ended up working out anyway. I worried about the weather all week. In the end it did rain but by the time the party started the sky was turning blue and not a drop of rain in sight. We decided on cured meats, cheeses, pickles and mustards, Dill Pickle Hummus from local company Happy Dance Hummus, veggie chips, pineapples with blueberries (think a striped bumblebee) on skewers, assorted muffins, pastries and cinnamon buns from local bakery Tall Grass Prairie, Honeycomb cereal mixed with chocolate Teddy Grahams for the kids, assorted mini quiches we bought from Costco, homemade lemonade, the honey cake I made for Litha, a veggie tray and a bunch of different local honeys and jams. I wanted to make Deviled Eggs but Jesse has a giant hate for any sort of cold egg, it’s the only thing as a Chef he absolutely despises I find it funny. But that’s why we compromised and did the quiches instead. I picked up a party pack of Tim Horton’s coffee which ended up being the perfect touch because I knew it was early and everyone loves coffee. My mom made the most incredible bumblebee cupcakes and smash cake for the party. She is an amazing baker and they were incredibly delicious and adorable. We got Jaxson’s cake from Chocolate Zen for his birthday and although it was sooo nicely decorated, my moms cake was way tastier.

The decorations were relatively simple. I looked for bumblebee decor at several party stores in the city and surprisingly all I could find was for a baby shower. You could find really expensive decor on Etsy for bumblebee theme but I was trying to be on a budget this time. I made the invitation myself on Canva. I picked up some generic yellow and black decor from Party Stuff and I had some leftover yellow paper plates and cups and table cloths from another party a few years ago. I ordered some bumblebee balloons off Amazon and was hoping to get them filled from Party Stuff but apparently there is a helium shortage and any place that fills helium will only do it with their balloons. So I ended up buying my own helium tank from Michael’s. Let me tell you, it was a struggle to figure out that helium. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why the bumblebees woudln’t go straight upwards, but in the end they just needed more helium. In the end it didn’t even matter because the wind blew all the balloons sideways basically lol. But I eventually did after a few tries. I got the balloons blown up on my own. I likely used half the tank of helium and am thinking about selling the rest of it on Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace. The mason jars were my own that I brought from home. I picked up the flowers that morning from Safeway, they actually had just what I envisioned and the flowers in total cost me $20 with 3 different bouquets. All serving platters were ours.

The day of the party arrived and the rain was just trickling off as we woke up. I knew the weather was going to improve so I didn’t even think for a second about cancelling the party. Jesse went early to set up our tent and bring all the decorations. He came back and I went on my own to set up. Some of the smaller details that I added as a nice touch were yellow Gerber daisies, white carnations and Baby’s Breath in mason jars on each table. In two mason jars I added Honeycomb cereal with chocolate Teddy Grahams as a nice tribute to the bumblebee theme. The balloons I tied to the tent because despite the lack of rain it still was quite windy. I bought bubbles, sidewalk chalk and water guns for the kids to play with and as the party favour for the kids.

I got everything set up in time basically as most off the guests started to arrive. There were about 30 people coming and I knew everyone wouldn’t be on time which is okay with me since I felt slightly frantic with how close the timing of everything was. It was right to the minute. But phew, it all worked out perfectly. Everyone showed up slowly but surely. We were worried there was way too much food and we were going to have a ridiculous amount of leftovers but it ended up being okay. We hardly had any leftovers in the end. Everyone enjoyed the food, the park grounds and enjoyed each others company. It’s nice after too many years of weird tension between my family (split up parents) everyone can be in the same place and get along. No weirdness and everyone just coming together to spend time celebrating our beautiful baby boy.

Jaxson ran around basically the entire time. The other kids had an amazing time playing on the structure and running around and kicking the soccer ball around. There is a bathroom but for some reason it is only open when the wading pool is open. The kids were drinking juice boxes and lemonade so of course everyone had to pee. Luckily there is a firehall across from the park so several of the kids went to use the washroom there. Some of them even got to take photos in the firetrucks and meet the firemen. How cute. Just an added element of fun to picking this spot for a birthday party. We did the smash cake, and just like Jaxson, Asher didn’t understand that he was supposed to smash into it. What can I say? Both my kids are just really tidy eaters. I thought for sure Ash would dig right in but it is okay. After cake we did presents and Asher was soooo spoiled. He got mostly clothes which honestly was perfect and just what I needed for him. But he also got a couple of really awesome new toys. Mickey Mouse Fireman Track and Firehouse set made by V-Tech and a train set by Duplo. He also got some other toys and some money to put into his RESP. People wrote a bunch of bee puns in his cards and this made me so happy. The whole bee theme overall was so cute. It was nowhere near the explosiveness of toys and gifts that Jaxson got for his first birthday but that was so excessive. After that the party basically unwinded. The kids were playing with chalk at this point and made some really cute drawings. I was sad but also relieved it was over. Kids parties can be stressful lol. Our families helped us clean up and we were home with the kids napping by 1pm. It really was the loveliest day despite the stress. And everything worked out perfectly in the end. I only wish I had spent more time with the kids and gotten some awesome photos of them playing together, but of course I was hosting so this wasn’t really a possibility.

Some things I would recommend would be I would definitely recommend having a birthday party in the park during the summer, although I would try to have a backup plan for bad weather or make sure to rent a space with a shelter. Definitely do the baking yourself, if you can. If you are a good baker or someone offers to, just accept it. It will taste so much better and save you some money. If you are planning to do Bumblebee theme you may need to do way more DIY stuff. I was running out of time so I wasn’t able to completely fulfill my vision, although I am still happy with what I accomplished. Never worry that it is too much food. People will eat it and if they don't , you will eat it at home for leftovers. Don’t stress the little details because all that really matters is everyone there to celebrate your baby, things will come together on their own.

I wanted to give a shout out to everyone who helped with the birthday party. My mom made the cupcakes and smash cake and did an absolutely amazing job. Not only did it taste good but the cakes were soooo moist, which is something you don’t always find with bakeries. May dad bought the pastries, muffins and cinnamon buns from Tall Grass Prairie and his partner Cori brought the veggie tray and baguettes. Everyone who came and brought a present I have got to give a shout out to because it’s really nice to have such amazing friends and family who care so much not only about you but your family. Incredibly heartwarming. It really was the best day and I couldn’t ask for anything more.