Book Party: The Party

After a month of planning, the day of the party was finally here. We had a great turnout with 28 friends and family bustling around our house and enjoying Troy’s company. My wife got a small bouncy castle that we could have indoors, and when my mom showed up early to help us finish getting set up, we put her on figuring out how to blow it up! We opened up the upstairs for the kids to enjoy the nursery, the ball pit, the bouncy castle, the teepee, the cardboard castle, and the gadget board (which was a huge hit among all of the kids).

We had brought in catered barbecue from Hard 8, which was fantastic. And I had set up horseshoes in the back yard for people to enjoy the weather, which was an absolute perfect 74 degrees. We had toys out for the kids in the den, and I had put on a slide show of various pictures of Troy through the year on the TV. People amused themselves with the various areas we had set up, but mostly people wanted to hang out with the birthday boy. Funny enough, toward the end of the party, my wife came up to me and asked if I intended to spend any time with Troy at all. I had gotten so caught up with hosting that I had neglected the guest of honor! Luckily, he had had plenty of people to keep him entertained.

It was hard to believe that time had gone by so quickly, but just like that, three hours had already passed and people started to disperse. Some to other parties or gatherings, and others to get their kids down for a nap. And that's where we suddenly realized that we screwed up. We planned the party to start and be going on right in the middle of Troy's nap time. He started to get cranky and upset, because he was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep because there was too much going on. Tonight is going to be a rough night.

All in all, it was a fantastic one-year birthday party. I applaud the enormous efforts that my wife and mother-in-law put into preparing for it. And I thank everyone who overwhelmed my son with dozens and dozens of new books! It was the perfect theme, and the perfect way to celebrate his first birthday.