Henry's 2nd Birthday

This year Henry had not one, but three birthday parties. On the Friday before his birthday (August 23rd), he celebrated with his friends at daycare by eating cupcakes during afternoon snack. Then, on Sunday, he enjoyed a Thomas the Train birthday cake and an afternoon swim at Brad and Tonia Powell’s home, where we spent the afternoon visiting with college friends. Finally, on September 29th, Henry had a joint birthday party with several of his friends from daycare at Hayes Park in Arlington, Virginia. The park has a sprayground (a water spray park for children), a large sand pit, lots of playground equipment, and Henry’s personal favorite: swings. The theme for the party was “A Day at the Beach” (because of the water and sand), and we were fortunate to have some cool (if overcast) weather. The turnout was terrific, and everyone seemed to have a great time playing in the park and eating birthday cake.

Celebrating with Henry were his friends Nicholas Cho and the twins Teddy and Dorothy Huang. Henry’s parents were glad to share the burden of planning and preparing for the party with four other parents. We were responsible for the favors and decorations. For favors, each child received a plastic sand bucket filled with bubbles, playdough, sunglasses, stickers and other small toys. And, yes, we did assemble each of those forty party favor buckets by hand!

Henry received lots of great gifts for his birthday. Mimi Pauline gave him a toddler bed shaped like a boat, which Henry absolutely loved (when his father finally managed to finish assembling it). Mimi Joanne and Paw Paw Bill gave him an inflatable pool for the backyard. It was so hot in August, we let Henry open this gift early and start enjoying the cool water right away. Mom and dad gave him a puppet theater and some puppets. Unfortunately, the pirate puppet that we selected was a little scary looking, so Henry has gone off the puppets for a while. But hopefully the theater will pay dividends soon.

Click below for more photos from the party: