We had such a great time celebrating Cove’s second birthday. Last year, we did a Wild Animal party because it was a big Zoo year for Cove. Animals were a huge hit and he visited the zoo here in Atlanta and in San Diego so we thought it would be fun to remember the year that way. This year, we decided on National Parks theme because for one, Cove was sort of named after a state park, and secondly, he visited more state and national parks this year than Ian and I have in almost six years of marriage. I know – lucky duck. But like I said, experiences are so important to us, so I am so thrilled he had the opportunity and we were able to take him.

We did all our own branding for the party which included Cove’s own national parks adventure sign and little signs for the special trail mix that his grandmother makes. It was special to have something that Cove’s grandmother makes and we eat frequently to be a part of the party. The sign also sat on rocks that we collected from each of the parks we visited. Cove is rock obsessed, so I thought it was a special accent to have those as part of the decor. I also played on the fact that his birthday is in December and we had live Christmas tree scrappings for table decor along with indoor snowballs. We also used our new Airfort upstairs in the playroom to create a tent with tiny trees and a campfire for the kids to play in.

We did a chocolate cake since we are big chocolate lovers and I put powdered sugar for snow, little trees to make it look like a forest along with tiny wildlife and a sign that said “Entering Cove’s National Adventure.” The cake was probably my favorite part, and Cove’s too. We did brunch foods – quiche, hashbrown casserole, fruits, and smore’s bars along with some coffee and juice and it was perfect for a morning celebration.

I hope you enjoy the images and smile a little bit when you think about this ray of sunshine blowing out the candles and diving into some chocolate fudge cake!