Tyler is TWO!

Tyler is two, as of January 12th, and what better way to celebrate than with TWO parties?!

PARTY #1:

The people...

We always do Tyler's birthday up with a big bang, not because we invite all his friends and have millions of kids running around the house, but because we invite a couple friends and then the millions of family we have close by come over and it fills up our not so big townhouse oh so very quickly. This year we had Dan, Becky, Jake and Tess; Kathy, Jennifer, and Darren; Grandma and Grandpa "A"; Uncle Kris, Aunt Jamie and Lucy; Uncle Gary and (Soon to be) Aunt Marlee; and, of course, Mommy, Daddy and Tyler.

Kathy, Grandma, Daddy & Dan

Jake, Becky & Tyler

Aunt Jamie and Lucy

Kathy, Jen, (soon to be) Aunt Marlee, Uncle Gary,
Darren, Tyler, Uncle Kris

Grandpa

Lucy

After everyone got there we busted out the grub. We decided since it was Tyler's birthday, he could pick the menu, and he picked all of his favorite foods: Mac & Cheese, Cheese Dogs, Apples, Grapes, String Cheese, Pickles, and MMs. We added Pizza to the menu for all the guests who weren't below the age of 10 and didn't enjoy his favorite foods as much as he does. Ironically enough, he didn't even actually eat much of anything. The balloons and the taunting of the present pile was more exciting.

After our tummies were full and we were all regretting our fifteenth handful of "MMs", we played some games. First was "How Well Do YOU Know Tyler" with a questionnaire and then a DVD answer key. After that we had a hockey shoot-out, which Tyler won (not just because he was the birthday boy, but because he's actually GOOD). Prizes were awarded in the form of giant candy bars...

Which brings me to what happened next...the LOOT!

After our dismay last year at his pathetic attempt at present opening, we were very pleased with his new "rip the paper into as many shreds as possible and then hold the present over your head cheering when all the paper was off" technique for this year's birthday. The present pile went from large to non-existent in a very short amount of time. He got cars, cars, and more cars, stacking blocks, TMX cookie monster, a race tower, some trains, books, money, and clothes.

Hmmmm...what could it be? A very noisy noisy car, I believe.

Tess enjoying TMX cookie monster while Tyler went in for another kill...

After presents, we rounded the troops up and sent them to the table for cake. Tyler wanted a "puck cake" for his birthday, so after jumping into his toy basket and finally finding the NHL puck from a past Caps game, I made this:

It was much yummier than it was pretty.

Finally, after everyone left, Tyler had his post party crash during the "Oh Canada" theme of Hockey Night in Canada. Shortly after watching the anthem, he rested his head against the couch and proceeded to try and sleep sitting up during the hockey game. I nixed that and put him to bed still crying for his precious sports and brand new presents.

Which leads us to Party #2....

PARTY #2

The people...

This party took place on a weekday, on Tyler's actual birthday, so we decided to tone it down a bit. We only invited Grandma and Grandpa "L" and Uncle Chris, (different uncle, different spelling). It was much easier to get ready for and much quieter (but both were definitely fun).

Uncle Chris, Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy, Tyler

The spread...

Since Tyler chose the menu for Saturday, Mommy and Daddy went with a classic favorite: Nachos Grande! I don't think that Tyler ate any, but everyone else definitely enjoyed them. Check out the spread:

All the fixins for Nachos Grande...YUM!

After dinner, we played the questionnaire game and hockey shoot-out game with our new guests. Tyler won the shoot-out AGAIN. Isn't is sad when you actually try and you can't beat a two year old at sports? Story of my life. I actually got a good picture of him in action:

The loot...

The party guests decided to "do it up right" (?) with ginormous gifts...larger than the birthday boy. I started guessing what was in them, but gave up shortly. Come to find out, it was a basketball hoop and a baseball machine, and some clothes. Mommy and Daddy added to the pile with some blocks and more clothes.

The cake...

Doesn't it look familiar? Yes, Tyler could not settle for just ONE puck cake, but instead had to have TWO. Unfortunately, I think my cake decorating skills didn't improve at all between the two. But this party I got a good candle shot (please disregard the red eye, someday I will eliminate it using Photoshop).

All in all we had a fun time and Tyler got way too many new presents. He should be busy until New Year's next year...