Chloe's 2nd Birthday Party!

The morning of Chloe's birthday party started with some gift opening! I dressed her in her 'Birthday Girl' shirt and she got to open all the presents from her three aunts. She had a blast. Solana had a blast, too, and we sort of had to nudge her back a few times to give Chloe a little room. :-)

In the afternoon, after Chloe's nap, some of our closest friends came over for a little party. It was a beautiful day - warm but not hot. We had dinner and then all the kids changed into swimsuits and played in the two kiddie pools, at the water table, and on the playground. And the grown-ups relaxed with frosty cold beverages provided by Dave. It was a great afternoon and we couldn't have asked for a nicer party for our special 2 year-old.

Dressed up in her birthday girl outfit to open gifts.

Baby David is ready to join Chloe in the princess pool.

Big sister Solana is beautiful in her pretty blue bikini.

I caught Chloe following the big girls around the yard. This probably won't be the last time she follows Solana and her friends around...

Ari kept Chloe company in the little pool. She's a sweetheart and Chloe loves her.

There was a breeze and Dave had a little trouble lighting the candles on the cake. The girls were trying to help with their combined mind power.

Chloe loved the cake and I had to get confirmation from others around when I heard her say, "More cake."

Monty snuck a taste when Chloe let her hands dangle carelessly (or was it purposefully) behind her.

Chloe's 2 year-old cake. I tried to make it checkerboard and did a mediocre job. It didn't look like the box but it was still kind of cool. It tasted great, though! The icing is chocolate butter cream and I used the only salt I had to make it - kosher. The big crystals of salt didn't completely dissolve in the frosting so every once in a while you'd get a nice little salty bite in the icing. It was an unexpected and amazingly yummy effect.