curious george first birthday

Curious Graham's Birthday Surprise was an absolute smash last weekend. When I heard a chance of rain in the forecast, I completely nixed the park picnic idea and prayed no one would mind cramming sardine-style in our little 2 bedroom apartment! We wound up having 16 guests + the man in the yellow hat and his sidekick George in attendance. Jeff will never forgive me for making him wear those ridiculous yellow pants and spray painted sombero, especially now that I've posted it on the internet. The good news is, we're still married!

My sil Jenny is the ultimate cake baker. She was so sweet and helpful to make a bright beautiful Curious George cake out of fancy fondant, plus the ultimate cookies+cream baby cake for this curious boy to destroy. Graham was a fan!
For the rest of the food, I made an assortment of gourmet sandwiches, my signature strawberry poppyseed salad, cucumber cups and fruit kabobs. The banana punch was surprisingly delish, despite it's peculiar color. I kept the favors super simple: baggies of M&M's tied with a little George tag. (Isn't that stamp perfect? Gotta love the Target $1 bins!)Oh and a little background: I'm not typically a fan of cartoon character or mythical creature themes, but Curious George was too perfect to pass up. During Graham's first year, I had taken monthly pictures to track his growth with his stuffed George from my friend Kayt. I used a few of my favorites to make this fun paper banner. I loved this little decoration...It's still hanging in our hall. Not sure if I'll ever take it down!