First birthday party

The twins’ first birthday party was a complete success! (well, “almost”).

Jon and I decided that we only wanted family on the day, because if we were going to invite friends, it could be a very busy party! You know, the old “if we invite them, we also have to invite these others”, and blah blah blah. So since the twins are only one and they won’t remember a thing, family only and easier for all.

My mum and my niece came over a couple of days before and had a great time with Eric and Elisa. The first day wasn’t so good, as I arrived with them from the airport past their dinner time and the kids were tired and not in the mood for visitors, but from the following morning they really warmed up to each other. My niece, especially, since she has a three year old daughter herself and has got great touch with kids.

The weather was gorgeous and we all sat outside in the garden whilst the kids played. We had some light sandwiches and snacks (didn’t bother with a BBQ) and then had the cake! My niece made the sponge cake and my mum the fillings and the decoration. It was delicious, I must say. But it was massive and had tons leftover!

The party started at 12:30 (well, the invitations were from 12:00, but everybody was late) and I was a bit worried that the twins were going to be very cranky towards the end of the party. In my head I imagined everybody leaving by 3 pm so the kids could go to have their nap in peace. But when some people have travelled from the other side of the country to be here on this special day, it would be rude to ask them to leave after two and a half hours. But there was so much entertainment for the twins and they were so busy all day, that their nap time was easy peasy! We put them on their bouncy chairs on the nursery and they slept considerably well.

Here are a few photos of the day:

Judging by the pictures, it would look as if the children did not have a good time, but they did! I don’t know why but most of the time I find it difficult to make them smile for the camera (especially when I take the big Canon camera). If I’m trying to take photos of them the first thing they’ll do is attempt to grab the camera, and they get so caught up in this that they forget to smile at all. Maybe I need to take the camera out more often so they get used to it! But “smiling on demand” does not exist yet…

All in all, the day was pretty much a success. We have learnt a few lessons with this first experience and hopefully next year’s party will be ten times better!