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We went back and forth on whether we should throw a birthday party for James, but in the end decided we wanted to do something special for him. I thought I would keep it simple with cupcakes at the Airplane Park Hanger. I knew I was taking a chance with the weather in February, but there were so many other families who signed up for the pavilion in February too, so we went for it!

The short story is that I’m still recovering from the failure that was this party.

The long story is this…

The previous three Saturdays had been beautiful and warm and perfect for a party at the park, so I was hopeful. However, on the morning of the party it was FREEZING cold and windy, not a great combination for a wide open air field.

In my head this was going to be the cutest airplane themed party pinterest had ever seen, instead is was an epic fail and the fastest party anyone had ever attended.

So in order to make myself feel better about all my efforts and preparations, I’m going to show all of you!

I made paper airplanes and strung them together for a garland. Because it was so cold and windy, it took me about 30 minutes to hang this up and nearly a full roll of tape.

Hi birthday sign and cotton ball clouds, complete with painters tape on all sides to keep it from blowing away. Keeping it real people!

My sweet dad also braved the cold and wind for set up duty with me. He tried to MacGyver a wind shelter for us, but we were no match for the weather. 

When everyone started arriving, we hadn’t even laid out the food since everything took three times longer than we planned.

Here are some of our guests all bundled up! It was pretty miserable for everyone involved.

James’ Godmother made his awesome cake again this year! Would you look at this!! It’s an entire airplane, with wings!!

(Side bar shout out to my mother in law who brought all the coffee supplies! They were much appreciated!!)

James loved it and couldn’t wait to dig in!

We sang happy birthday and tried to cut the cake, but James would not let it slide that we weren’t able to light the candles due to wind.

We tried and tried and got one half lit and called it good. This was about the moment I realized I didn’t bring a knife or forks for the cake. (I know what you’re thinking, how could this party possibly get worse!?) So George busted out his pocket knife and the guests ate with their hands. I think I’m finally able to laugh about all of this now!

These were the food and craft tables. Table cloths battened down with rolls of tape and hidden behind the hanger for slight protection from the wind. The crafts kept blowing away as the kids were working on them and hardly any of the food was eaten.

And that was it for the pictures I took at his party. Everyone had left and we were packed up and in the car headed home 45 minutes after the party had started.

But here is the sliver lining. Our precious family and friends came out to celebrate our big boy despite the cold and wind. They stayed to give hugs, and sing to him and to make our family feel so loved. So thank you to everyone who helped make his day special!!

Next year we will see you INDOORS in February.