jay's second birthday party might have been my favorite day ever as a parent. most of the time when i think jay is going to have an amazing day and i plan something really fun for him, he is in a bad mood and grumpy and nothing goes right. so i mostly expected to put in all this work for his birthday party and for him to be crazy and bratty and not even enjoy it. BUT he was an angel and seriously loved every second of it. it was such a parenting win.

I originally planned to do a small kid oriented party that wouldn’t be stressful – but oops! I got a few vendors on board and ran with it. Jay is obsessed with pancakes, and his favorite thing to do is run around at the park, so we themed it Pancakes at the Park. I wanted to create a classic diner-y feel. We put flowers in coffee pots as the center pieces, updated the basic red/blue gingham to large grey buffalo check, created custom menus titled ‘J.H.O.P’ which guests could order from the waitresses (Jay’s grandmas:).

For the kids table, we had a low coffee table with pillows for seating, and a throne at the head of the table for Jay. Each kid got a balloon, train piece, coloring set, sprinkles to put on their pancakes, and lollipops. We basically threw anything kids like on there and it worked! They sat there almost the entire time without needing their moms’ help, making it relaxing for all my friends as well. We topped the table with a gauzy tent and balloon chandelier and put a giant ‘2’ balloon behind Jay’s chair. He couldn’t get enough of his throne. One of my favorite parts may have been the birthday cake! It was a simple stack of pancakes covered in sprinkles.

i have to thank so many people for helping me to make this party happen! first jarman because he was a champ dad and was happy to do everything necessary for this over the top party. then my mom and audrey who worked the whole day before to help me make all the things and watch jay. i had some amazing vendors who donated their time and talents to make it a success. lanell lange did all of the food for us which was a huge lifesaver! and my friend jacklin who babysat jay the weeks leading up to the party so that i could run errands and work on everything. plus we had so many people come and all of jay's little friends made him so happy to be there!

The Blog

Jay's 2nd Birthday Party / Pancakes at the Park