Lions, Tigers and Balloons, Oh My!

Yesterday was Hattie’s big first birthday bash. We had a rubber ducky theme and I went all out with decorations. I bought about 20 little ducks on-line and had them floating in glass bowls filled with blue water. I bought a dozen blue and white balloons (we’ll get to those later). I made ducky cupcakes for the kids, blue ‘pond water’ punch (with more ducks) and a big cake with blue frosting, bubbles and a bar of 'soap' on top. It all came out pretty cute. I forgot, of course, to take pictures of it all until after the party. Tomorrow I can post a pic of the half-eaten cake. I really wish I was better at taking pictures. I seem to miss all the good shots and get closed-eyes and blurry aftermath most of the time. But I digress… The party was a great time – HP was a wonderful hostess, gladly being passed from family member to family member and putting on a show of her greatest hits – hand clapping, nose scrunching, jabbering, and demonstrating ‘so big’ for the audience. I think they will be back for the show next year.
So, back to the balloons….
The party started at 1:00. I had gone and picked up the balloons while HP was down for her morning nap. They were in groups around the house when she came downstairs to eat lunch. Well, she flipped out in her high-chair and I could not figure out what was wrong. It was the balloons. When they moved they freaked her out. She would grip the hell out of me whenever we passed by them. All day she kept her eyes on them if there were any in the same room as her. I had my Dad take pictures when Bri, Hattie and I opened her gifts. In the first half of the pics she is smiling and checking out her new things. Then comes a gift bag with a balloon on top. Aaaaa! Damn menacing balloon. Floating, lurking, waiting to get her... So, the rest of the pics she is wide-eyed, staring at that floating evilness making sure it doesn’t attack her. The pics reveal it all – the rest of the party goers are completely oblivious to this lurking danger, but HP knows better. She saved us all.
Needless to say, every kid at the party got to take a balloon home with them. The leftovers my nephew set free into the sky. Hattie watched. It was a very cathartic experience for her, watching the evil in her life drift off into the big blue sky…