Monkey Birthday Bonanza

Saturday we celebrated Gabriela's 2nd birthday with lots of aunties and uncles and cousins and grandparents.  I wouldn't have been able to pull off this Monkey Birthday Bonanza without lots of help from my fabulous family. 

  

Monkey Birthday Banner

 

I made two photo banners of Gabriela with pictures from all throughout the year.  Kristie picked up some monkey ribbon, which was perfect for the banners!

 

I had so much fun with the monkey decor.  See those cups? I just put some monkey stickers on them.  I collected stuffed monkeys from the cousins and placed them all over the room, even hung some from the ceiling. I made monkey faces and glued them to the goodie bags too! I bought some monkey fabric to use as a tablecloth. 

   

What do you serve a bunch of little monkeys? We had peanut butter banana nutella sandwiches, fresh watermelon, strawberries and blueberries, and tropical trail mix. I also made pesto for the adults and Annie brought a delicious green salad. 

 

I asked my sister and brother if they had any tents or tunnels for the kids to play with out front. I had no idea Theresa would bring a whole tent city!!!  The kids had a blast playing inside, crawling around, and claiming their own house. 

 

Here is the birthday girl with her presents and ultimate chocolate monkey cupcakes.  I was nervous about how they would turn out, and pleased with the results!

 

I was determined to make cupcakes that didn't just look cute, but were delicious to eat as well.  So I selected the Cooks Illustrated Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake recipe, complete with chocolate ganache center and 3 full bars of bittersweet chocloate between the filling, cupcake, and to-die-for frosting. 

 

The Birthday Girl showing off her birthday crown and birthday party manicure and pedicure that Nana gave her that morning.

 

Gabriela loved that everyone sang her the Happy Birthday song and she clapped right along with us after she finally blew out the candles on her cake... with perhaps some help from mommy and daddy. 

 

After crawling through tunnels, hanging out in tents, chasing bubbles, lunch, cupcakes, and presents, the real fun began.  See for yourself: 

 

 

What better way to cool off from a hot summer day than to enjoy an ice cream cone inside the kiddie pool, in the shade? 

Baby Caetlin joined in on the ice cream fun too.

Gabriela had been talking about her monkey party for ages. She was thrilled to see so many cousins at once and celebrate with so many family members. I'm glad it turned out so well. Thanks everybody for all your help!!!