Whose hose?

Anyone who really knows me knows how much I love a good themed party - especially birthday party! However, I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical when my friend Claire (who is excellent at everything she does...parties not to be excluded) told me that her son wanted a "hose party" for his 3rd birthday. Yup. He wanted a party themed with green garden hoses. Well, if anyone could pull it off, Claire could...and she did. It was fantastic...down to every little detail! Let's start with the wreath on the wall (pictured above). Clever, huh?

Here is Claire with Drew (the birthday boy) under an arrangement of balloons made to look like sky, clouds, and the son...and a hanging garden hose amidst cut outs of garden vegetables (which she decided were more masculine to theme with hoses than the flower alternative of course). And, I have to point out...how cute is the turf she used as a table covering under the cake?!!

And look how adorable these little veggie shaped beanbags are that she made to toss into the burlap covered baskets!

Drumroll please...the cake! So cute! The crushed gingersnaps were the perfect color for the cake (which was a scrumptious carrot cake) and the details on the veggies were so dang cute!
...which was flanked by these adorable little mini-cakes for the kids that were baked in little terracotta pots.

Seriously. The cake even had this cute little basket filled with corn on it!

And I had to include a close up of the HOSE!

Mark playing a little go fish game with Noah and Lincoln. Drew also mentioned that he wanted fishing poles somewhere at the party...isn't Claire accommodating?
Lincoln loved the fishing game. And we were astonished by his level of concentration with it, as well as the length of time that he stayed interested in it! Check it out:


Then on to more active pursuits. They found this box to push each other around in (not a scheduled activity for the party of course).

Every kids' party of Claire's always has a cute craft. This time she made potato stamps. So cute!


And then it was time to enjoy the delicious cake!

It really does look like we're letting Lincoln chow down on a pot of dirt, huh?

Anna & Linc.

Nate & Drew.

Ryan reading the Lorax (part of our gift to Drew) to some of the boys.

And last, but not least...Claire always has an over the top party favor. This time it was hooded bath towels (brown for the boys, purple for the girls) trimmed in garden vegetable fabric. Super cute. The hooded part is even pleated and fits the kids' heads perfectly - my boys love them!Thanks for inviting us to Drew's party...and I'm sorry that I ever doubted the awesomeness that a hose party could be with you throwing it, Claire!