McKinstry Moments: Reid's 2nd Birthday and Barnyard Bash

For Reid's birthday this year, we decided on a barnyard theme. Doing Elmo or even Thomas was debated since both are characters he enjoys, but our little fella LOVES NaNa's chickens (and really just animals in general) so much that we thought it would be a lot of fun to celebrate his special day on her small farm.

As I mentioned in my last post, we originally planned our get together for the weekend before Reid's actual birthday - this because my cousin Kevin was getting married that weekend and I thought two events was a bit much for our extended family to cram in. The rain mixed up our plans though, and in the end it was for the best in some ways. Often I like to do something special on the kids' actual birth date in addition to their party. Having the party on the same day he turned two definitely simplified things. We also ended up having gorgeous weather since we waited, which made it well worth the delay as well. The only downside being that Grandpa McKinstry didn't get to join us.

When October 11th arrived, we were ready for fun! While the party wasn't until later in the day, the birthday celebration began before we even left for church that morning. Reid got to open a few gifts to start out his day.

What's in there, Baby?

Puppets!

And a stick horse!

*insert Bonanza theme song music here*

All of his gifts went with the barnyard theme we were using for his party, so originally, I was torn between giving them to him early so I could use them as part of the decor vs. waiting to make sure he had something to open on his real birthday. The party getting delayed a week actually made this dilemma settle itself.

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

Caleb was very excited this year to get Reid a gift from him. All his own idea, he brainstormed good presents he could buy for his farm-loving little brother, deciding on a set of farm animals finally. Dave picked him up one day after work on his way to a doctor's appointment; afterwards, they went to Toys R Us to see what they could find. Finally, after lots of looking, Caleb spotted at huge farm themed Lego set and declared that this was it. However, his choice was somewhere around $75 and Dave told him it was just too expensive. "Let's just leave," Caleb told him. "I'll just have to keep saving my money." Neither of us had any idea our boy had planned to spend his OWN money on his brother. It warmed my heart so much that he cared that much about Reid that it made me want to cry!

Dave took him over to look at some more inexpensive plastic farm animals and explained he was going to help pay for them. Finally, Caleb was able to settle on a few. When the day arrived to give Reid what he bought, our big boy was probably more excited to watch the birthday boy open it than Reid was!

This was extra meaningful to me because for a long time Caleb didn't really want much to do with Reid. He'd even tell me he didn't like him because he drooled on him when he was a baby or knocked over the towers he'd built as a toddler. Recently though, that's all changed. He is really starting to enjoy his youngest sibling, giggling over the silly things he does, cuddling and wrestling with him, and including him in his play.

As always on Sundays, church was next!

I typically like to rest Sunday afternoons, but there was lots of party prep to do. So, after a bit of lunch, off I went to my mom's to get things ready for my birthday boy and our guests!

Git Yer Gear

My Aunt Pat gave me all of her cake decorating materials a few years ago when she retired, and a tractor shaped pan was one of the treasures among the stack. I had never star tipped an entire cake before so this was a big challenge for me, and I was so nervous that I had planned to practice a week or two ahead but ran out of time. I was so happy Reid's cake turned out okay anyway!

The day before the party, I realized we might not have enough cake for the number of guests we were expecting, so I went to Pinterest for ideas. They didn't let me down. I used a bit of what I found there, made a few tweaks of my own, and hooray - some piggies and sheep cupcakes for the farm! (They looked better before I transported them! Oops!)

Thanks to helping hands from Mom and my Aunt Susie (who surprised me by showing up early, eager do whatever she could to make my job easier), we were ready when everyone arrived.

The kids didn't care all that much about the decorations, the food, or even the cake when they got there. They wanted to see the animals! The first stop being the new little potbelly pig our friend Danny brought us for the party.

Then, on to the chickens they went. The kids watched them, fed them, and even petted them.

They were having so much fun, it was hard to get them to come down and get on their cowboy gear at first.

Next on the agenda was some potato sack races.

On your mark, get set...

Go!

Hannah and Lexi (the older two) won the race.

Reid got a little help from Mommy, and Courtney helped Celia.

The great grandmas were the finish line.

Round two!

Miss Melanie stepped up to help Hadley. The kids' small legs made it a bit hard for the little ones, but they loved it!

Reid didn't want to stop. Long after the races were over, he just kept saying, "jump, jump, jump."

He wanted to give it a try all by his big boy self.

Watch out! NaNa is passing you!

For the next activity we got to take a break as we sat around singing Old MacDonald. Hadley had some animal face masks Grandma and Grandpa McKinstry bought her for Christmas a couple years ago which worked perfectly. In combination with the puppets Reid received earlier that morning, there were enough animals to go around for each child to have one.

...and on that farm he had a chicken!

....with an oink oink here and an oink oink there....

Reid wanted to get up and dance!

We also played a little Farmer in the Dell...

and Duck, Duck, Goose.

Reid, along with some of the younger ones, had a little bit of a hard time understanding what to do, but with some help he did pretty well.

Got you, Miss Melanie!

Not that way! Come back!

The boys snuck off after a while to check out the pig again.

Granny and Grandma just enjoyed their front row seats.

We'd all worked up an appetite by that point. Come and get it!

Supper wasn't without its own excitement. Look who popped in for a visit!

The weather was perfect and there was lots of room to roam. To be honest, I didn't even need to come up with activities because the kids loved just exploring.

The last game I had planned though was a chicken catching contest. We gave them a few strategies, such as how to corner the birds to make them easier to catch, and let everyone go at it.

Hannah and Caleb were especially eager to catch one.

Look who got first place!

Good job, NaNa!

Since the chickens liked to hide between the pen and a few cages sitting behind it, Hannah and her daddy (Bobby) devised a plan. One of them got on one side of the cages and the other stood on the other to catch the chickens when the first person hustled them out. The problem: the chickens weren't the only ones that got startled - Hannah got a bit shook up too when they came running out and missed them! So fun!

Courtney - 2

Hooray! Caleb caught one finally - the only kid who was able to really get his hands on one of the birds. Actually I think he got a couple before it was all done. Thatta boy!

Throughout the party, Reid kept fussin' to get at those cupcakes but Mommy wouldn't let him snatch one. (He didn't think that was very nice - it was his birthday after all.) But, finally, it was time to give him the sugar rush he'd been asking for.

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday, dear Reid!

Happy birthday to you!

We ended with opening a few gifts from our friends and family.

"Monkey! Monkey! Monkey!" he squealed with excitement over the stuffed toy Hoss game him.

Almost everyone bought him books and arts supplies which I LOVED. So much fun to play with, educational, and they don't add to the mound of toys I have to battle daily...

The biggest gift came from NaNa like usual. This time it really stole the show.

For the rest of the party he rode all over the driveway in his motorized Mater truck.

We had so much going on at the party that I forgot about one more activity I had lined up for the kids to do. I bought a kit for them to make farm animals out of balloons that I thought might be fun. And, even though we didn't get to do them at the party, the kids still got to enjoy them the next day when Hannah came over for a play date.