jennifer
Just like his first birthday, Finley had an awesome second birthday.  
First, we got to celebrate with Cliff's mom's side of the family.  He got lots of fun gifts, including these underwear hats.
And a rainbow cake for breakfast. 
And his dream come true, his great-grandparents' basement full of electric trains. 
And a rocking horse.  Seriously, does it get any better for a two-year old?

And don't forget riding the tricycle with the perfect spot for his breakfast cupcake. 
And last but not least, a HUGE piece of delicious watermelon. 
Last year, his favorite book was "Goodnight Moon" so we based his party on that.  If you missed it, you can read about turning one here.
This year, he loves Curious George.  It's really the only tv he ever watches (besides the movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" {seriously}), and he loves the books, too.  So, we went with that theme.  It fit perfectly since Finley is such a monkey and so curious!
We designed and printed our invitation.

We made up this stats sign, which was fun to do while looking back at the one we did for his first birthday.  He had only grown about 4 inches and gained about 4 pounds and most of his interests were still the same.  This year, Finley loved walking on the board while I was trying to write, hence the smeared chalk.
We set up a guest book, note jar, and favors at the door.
I only made eight favors for the kiddos, and luckily, exactly eight cousins showed up.  

We used a Curious George birthday book for our guest book.  The jar was given to us at Finley's baby shower with notes from our guests.  Last year, we had birthday guests leave notes and this year we added to it.  Each year, I just use ribbon that coordinates with the party theme, and they look really cute stacking up in the jar and are such a great keepsake.
I just threw together the "Thanks for swinging by!" signs and glued them to paper straws.
We used popcorn tubs and filled them with balloons, suckers, Curious George fruit snacks, a Curious George bookmark to color, and of course banana runts and a real banana.
The fireplace mantle was my favorite part.  My mom put in the elbow grease to make this adorable fabric garland.  We used Curious George books, stuffed monkeys, balloons, a cute Curious George tin piggy bank my mom had on hand, a paper covered wooden 2, and painted Mason jars for decoration.

 We sat the stats sign on the hearth to tie it all together.
When I tried to get his picture there, this is how he posed...  He had the cutest shirt that my parents ordered for him.  On the front it had Curious George decorating a cake with the number two and was personalized with Finley's name.  The back said "It's my birthday!"  Just like Curious George, Finley wasn't still long enough for me to get a good picture.
We named all the food according to Curious George characters, which ended up being really fun.  
We had:
Hundley's Hot Dogs (which we grilled and then kept warm in a crock pot)
 Charkey's Chips
Gnocchi's "Purrrrfect" Potato Salad

Man in the Yellow Hat Deviled Eggs (Shout out to my mom for making these! They were so delicious.)
 Chef Pisghetti's Mac & Cheese
Betsy's Baked Beans (After 30 plates were filled, I swear these beans had not decreased in amount at all.)
 The Renkins' Farm Fresh Veggies & Dip
and Professor Wiseman's Watermelon 
You  may remember from our Goodnight Moon cake last year that our neighbor, Naomi, makes the best cakes you'll ever see. I put together this little banner with scrap paper and paper straws and she did the rest. The little star the monkey is holding is even a candle!  Finley LOVED the cake.
When we sang "happy birthday" Finley hid behind his cake and the table the whole time.  He has suddenly gotten shy over the last week or two.  It was actually really cute though.  He worked really hard to blow out his candle.
As soon as guests arrived, Cliff had our horse out and was giving rides.  The kids loved it.  They also swam in the pool, played in the water table, and had fun with Finn's other outdoor toys.  The adults enjoyed horseshoes. 
 Finley has a fan club of women.
 Fan club continued.
Of course he needed nothing and got everything.  He truly loved everything he got though.  All the new toys were a huge hit with everyone.

And he ended up getting his very own antique collector's rocking horse to keep at home.
 We sat outside with the remaining guests the rest of the evening and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  What better way to end your second birthday than in your birthday suit watching a train go by?
 Or sitting in the perfect size chair?
Now to send our Curious George thank you cards.

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