Birthday party

I'm two!!!!

Riley's super fun birthday week started with a party at our neighborhood playground on the Fourth of July. The Evite read:

Riley is turning two

His party is red, white and blue

Cake with no dairy?

It won't be that scary

We'll have booze and real food, too!

And indeed we did. Party guests were greeted by Uncle Sam. We lined the grass with pinwheels, hung patriotic pennants from a canopy and donned every surface we could find with red, white and blue fringe. We served some tasty drinks, salmon, grilled veggies, a quinoa salad, cheese and sausage strata, and a red, white and blue berry salad. The party was super mellow -- just a playground, some snacks and lots of time for good conversation -- and it was exactly what we were hoping for.

We were thrilled to be joined by a lot of great friends. We saw about 15 families from the neighborhood like Ann and Dylan and Riley's birthday twin and former nanny-share partner, Fiona.

Another set of friends from grad school, including Emilie, Brian, Anat and their families joined us.

I was so excited that friends from Sacramento made the trip out (and conquered the merry go round) and even joined us back at home afterward.

And don't forget Grandma, Riley's pal, whom he loves to kick back with.

After preparing for a week to blow out the candles, Riley was STOKED to see his cake (which did ultimately include dairy, by the way!).

He huffed and he puffed -- and with no stagefright whatsoever -- he blew those suckers out.

Thanks to everyone who helped us have such a wonderful day. Happy birthday, Riley! Happy birthday, USA!