CAMP NOLAN

My sons' birthday parties are two of my favorite days of the year. It's so much fun to plan a theme, design the party, and invite our best friends over to celebrate another special milestone. I've been saving the camping theme in the back of my mind for a couple of years, and I thought that four was the perfect age to run with it. Originally, I had pictured more of a kitschy, woodland animals party. But as time went on, I wanted a rustic camping look, with antique camping pieces as decor, and red and green buffalo plaid on the paper goods. 

Here are all the details (especially for all my family members out there who I WISH were able to be here.) :)

 I always want to delegate the cake and have someone else make it, but when it's crunch time, I decide to bake it myself and save some money. This one was easy, it turned out pretty, and it only cost us $12.44!

One of my favorite parts of the party was the s'mores bar. We had grahams, cookies & cream white chocolate, milk chocolate, and Reese's peanut butter cups. And then for marshmallow options: toasted coconut, strawberry, classic, extra-large, and chocolate filled squares.

 

My mom made the sugar cookies, and she definitely out-did herself this year! I am amazed that she wrote "CAMP NOLAN" on the canoes, and made "4"s and patterns on the tepees. Not only are they beautiful, they taste amazing. Thanks so much, Mom! 

 

I designed the invite, and then I used the same basic graphics for the wall signs.

I had a 24x36 inch engineer print made at Staples, and it was the perfect visual centerpiece for the mantel.

We were able to borrow so much of the camping decor from Steve's parents and our friend Rich.  Some of the pieces were antiques, and I think they really brought the party theme together.

Nolan got this tent for his birthday, so we went ahead and set it up on the porch :)  I'm sure plenty of fun memories will be made playing in this tent!

I didn't get many photos of the food table, but we had hot dogs cooked on the fire, fruit salad, chips, popcorn, and lemonade.

 

I love my sweet plaid-wearing family! 

In the backyard, we had a campfire set up for everyone to roast marshmallows for the s'mores.

Some fun new s'mores combinations were made :)

Nolan opened some wonderful gifts! 

One of his favorite things is a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" dress-up set, and he has been wearing his Jake bandanna nonstop :)  His friend Autumn also got him a singing Jake card, and we have heard the theme song about 1,000 times so far. The boys love it!

 

He got a Jake Duplo set, and a Batman Duplo set, and they are awesome!

Steve and I can't believe our firstborn is 4! He is the most spirited and bright child I've ever met, and I can't wait to experience this next year with him :)

Parties

Somewhere around the time that Nolan was born, I started to fall in love with little kids’ birthday parties. I had always fawned over the cute details of bridal showers, baby showers, and weddings, but I started thinking about my baby Nolan’s first birthday party, and I got SO excited!

I’ve put a lot of time and work into the parties I’ve thrown for my sons because ultimately, I want to create unforgettable memories for them (and for all of the family and friends that attend)! Granted, my boys may not remember their first couple of parties, but we’ll have the photos to show them. Nolan STILL talks about his donut party—8 months later! So I don’t think there’s a chance he’ll ever forget it :)

Andrea is doing a linkup today—Show and Tell Your Favorite Party. I can’t exactly decide which is my favorite, so I’ll share the FOUR kids’ parties I’ve thrown (three for Nolan and one for Ephraim). The most recent was Ephraim’s Peter Rabbit 1st Birthday Party.



It was a winter party (end of January), so the spring garden theme made all of us happy!



This cake was a labor of love by Steve and me, but I thought it turned out PERFECTLY!



I had some fun with Candy Melts making Lettuce Oreo Truffles and Carrot Pretzels. :)



Making the invites, graphics, and signs might be my favorite part of party-planning!



We waited until Ephraim’s birthday party before we gave him cake for the first time, and he was really into it! Then it smashed into a million pieces and he cried and CRIED!



For more photos of the Peter Rabbit party, click here.


Nolan celebrated THREE years with a DONUT PARTY! It was a huge hit :)




Nolan’s birthday is in early September, so it’s still summery weather. This day was a little rainy, so we stayed indoors and had a sugar overload!




Steve and I made this “cake” out of a styrofoam cone, toothpicks, and donut holes. Yum!




The kids liked donut ring toss!



For more photos of the donut party, click here.

The year before that, we went all out with a TRAIN theme for Nolan’s SECOND birthday!




The color scheme was orange, navy, red, and mint! I love buying M&Ms in custom party colors :)



My mom makes the pretty sugar cookies at all of our parties!



To see the rest of the train party, click here.

And lastly, for Nolan’s very first birthday, we did a classic NAUTICAL theme :)





Look how little and innocent he was!

For the post on the nautical party, click here.

Looking through all of these party photos really puts a smile on my face! They were some of the BEST days of my life!

As the summer approaches, it’s time to start thinking themes for Nolan’s 4th birthday party! I asked him what he wanted a few days ago, and he said a dog party. We will see!

What has been your favorite party (to host or attend)?