Guess Who's Two!

LittleBear is two years old!


Wow, we seriously cannot believe it has been two years! LittleBear is a most active little boy who keeps us on our toes, but is also a sweet, gentle, observant, curious and sensitive little man. He eats like a champ and is learning an incredible amount every day. All the while, he is showing us the world in a new light each time he discovers something new.

We wanted to honor him through a birthday party that would be really fun for him, so we came up with this: a splash party with bubbles! But what do you do when you've planned an outdoor splash party and the forecast high is 105 degrees?

We were armed with 3 gallons each of lemonade and sweet tea. We had chocolate stuffed raspberries, goldfish, chips & salsa, and Chex mix. We also had carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and homemade ice cream cake (if you're interested in hearing about how the ice cream cake was made, you'll find a summary at the end of this post).

We had a lovely time with friends and family!!! At least as far as we've heard from party-goers, the heat didn't feel nearly as severe as it should have. It took LittleBear a while (like, most of the party) to get into the pool, but once he did, he's been wanting to go in every minute since! We even spent a good deal of time in it the afternoon of Father's Day.

Thanks to everyone who shared in this day and helped make this party so special and fun for LittleBear. We're so blessed!



Or click here for a photo gallery of the birthday weekend.

Also, here are some videos from the day:

• LittleBear woke up on his birthday morning to find a big new present waiting for him!
• Almost time for the party
• Singing "Happy Birthday" to a boy who just wants to get down and play
• The party moves outdoors
• With the party almost over, LittleBear finally decides to try the pool and slide -- and finds it's fun!
  

And now, for the ice cream cake recipe. I (Bethany) combined several recipes that I found through blogs I follow and made a few changes to suit our tastes. As for an ice cream maker, I use the Kitchen-Aid mixer ice cream maker attachment and it is wonderful!

Anyway, the original recipe for the cake can be found at Finding Joy in My Kitchen. It consisted of a layer of chocolate ice cream, followed by a hot fudge sauce/chocolate wafer (minus the espresso) crunchy middle, then a layer of vanilla ice cream, topped off with a bit of whipped cream. If I had it to do all over again, I would have put the hot fudge sauce/chocolate wafer layer on the bottom and skipped the whipped cream all together, but it was still really tasty the way it came out. I also would have substituted whole wheat pastry flour in the chocolate wafer recipe (replacing the all purpose) and would have lowered the sugar increments a little on each recipe. Even so, it is a recipe that I'll definitely be making again!!!

Happy birthday, LittleBear!! We love you so much!!!!!!!!!