Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday, Ty!

It’s birthday party season here at the Allen household.  As I mentioned earlier, Ty chose Duck Dynasty for his party theme.  Y’all know me.  I loooove to plan my monkeys’ birthday parties, but it seems the more monkeys I have, the harder it is to get everything done.  So this year I tried really hard to scale back…somewhat. 

The fun started at the back door with a rustic sign to welcome party guests.

Although I completely forgot about them once the party started, I prepared some photo props for goofy pictures.  Oh, well, at least I got one picture of Lucy.  Can she rock a beard or what?

I always tell my kiddos they can have a killer cake or a killer party, but they can’t have both.  I’m not super mom.  Personally, I’d rather spend my time on party planning rather than cake decorating.  Luckily, they agree.  Initially, I baked this small cake for Ty and colored the batter so that it would look camouflage when cut open.  After the cake was all baked, Ty decided he’d rather have a cookie cake.  OK by me.

Let them eat two (simply decorated) cakes!

Would you like to take a stroll around the food table?  Here we go…

Duck Bills:  Pringles and dip

Sausage and Quackers:  Homemade summer sausage and Ritz

Duck Calls:  Pirouette Cookies

Yuppie Food:  Fresh fruit and veggies

I set the cakes on the buffet and made a garland to string across the mirror.  I included images of the Duck Commanders and some funny quotes from their show.

Ty had a talking Jase doll figure that was perfect for the occasion, and I found the gator head at Dollar Tree.  Of course, I had to include a picture of our family with Phil and family from the time they shot the commercial at our restaurant.  (More about that here.)

For party favors, I bagged up some fishing bait, or gummy worms, and I packaged marshmallow ammo for the marshmallow guns we made. 

I also bought the kiddos flag bandanas like Willie wears.

The Tool Man worked really hard and finished our swimming pool and deck in time for the big party.  The kids had a blast swimming!  They spent most of their time practicing their cannonballs and belly busters.

When we finally dragged the kids out of the pool, we all had cake and ice cream while Ty opened his gifts.  Then the Tool Man led the kids in building marshmallow guns using PVC pipe.  Once the guns were assembled the kids really got into decorating them with assorted colored duct tape.  Redneck craftiness at its finest! 

Happy, happy, happy birthday, Ty!  You’re the sweetest kid a mom could ask for.  I love you!

Now it’s time to start planning the next party.  It’s less than a month until Lucy’s big day.  She has requested a cupcake decorating/ swimming party.  I don’t know how we’ll be able to squeeze so much fun into just a couple of hours, but I’m sure we’ll manage.  I’m also sure that whatever we do will involve a TON of sprinkles!

Lindsey