Party Time

Initially when we thought about the Monkey's first birthday party, the HTC and I thought we would stick to something small. Little did we know just how hard that would be! By the time we invited immediate family (having to forget other family due to size) and close friends and parties the Monkey had been to, we were looking at 35 people!

So we had a BBQ up at my parent's house in case the weather was shocking - which of course it was. And although i spent the whole time running around like mad, it was a really nice time and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. And considering how overtired she was, the Monkey was an angel!

The shoes which took me forever to find due to her tiny foot and stayed on her for a total of 3.5 seconds

Sharing a book with her friend.

Birthday Girl with the HTC

The cake. I hate to think how long I spent trialing and perfecting this but at least it was worth it in the end! It was a butter cake with choc ganache filling and buttercream icing.



The cupcakes almost took as long but I was happy with them.


Mmm cake!

The Monkey's First Birthday

Our zoo trip was foiled due to the most shocking weather which was sad, but I had been stalking the weather forecasts for days before so it wasn't a huge disappointment. We decided to go to the 'Wacky Warehouse' instead on the recommendation of a friend. We weren't sure if she would be too young for it but they have a special under 3's area and she loved it!

Standing on the rocking hippo.

Playing blocks with the HTCShe thought the ballpit was awesome!

Afterwards we went home so she could have a much needed nap and then our immediate family and best friends came over for cupcakes. I used the Vanilla Cupcake recipe from The Cranberry Bakery Cookbook which I have used before and they have such a great flavour! I did a simple buttercream icing for them and the fairies were edible ones from Coles.

Fairy cakes

She wasn't so sure about the singing bit!
The cakes, however she was more sure about!
She was so tired out by the end of it poor thing but had a great time. But we still had the party to come!