Happy Birthday to Lissy from Fisher Price

Yeah, I know, Lissy just turned 11 months. But, Fisher Price was awesome enough to throw her a party anyway. I applied to throw a Fisher Price playdate through House Party, but since I've never done anything like that before, I had no idea what to expect. Well, one day the UPS man came and brought us a huge box (the one I showed the boys popping out of a couple of weeks ago). We opened it up, and hello . . .

We couldn't believe the fantastic things in the box! The kids liked playing with the stuff while still in the boxes for a couple of weeks, so that's a pretty great sign that the toys are fun.

I was told to invite kids "close to my child's age," which I thought was Lissy. Here's a tip to you if you ever have a House Party - just invite a ton of people and give out the gifts to the first people to RSVP. I was really worried about keeping the ages right around Lissy's and making sure to not have too many people there for the amount of Fisher Price guest packs, but in the future I'd just go with "the more the merrier."
Anyway, so yeah, people invited, carpets cleaned . . . time to put together the toys. Once Andrew saw us getting stuff out, there was no way he was going to bed. He ran around excitedly "helping," and actually provided us with some major entertainment. Gary says that the Cruise and Groove Ballapallooza doubles as a ninja training center, check Andrew out: (Yeah, I'm posting a video. Long story, but my flip camcorder is back in business.)

Fun goodies from Fisher Price for the guests - a coloring book, a CD, some coupons, and a few other things. People couldn't believe that I wasn't selling anything. Me neither, but I wasn't, it was just awesome.

The babies started to arrive to play with, and Lissy was totally in her element. She really does love being around other babies, and since they had great new toys to play with, they were all very entertained. My boys were at soccer practice with Gary, so at first it was pretty calm. Later on more babies and toddlers came with their older siblings, and my boys came home . . . kids everywhere! This was not a bad thing, though. They were having fun, the moms were loving the chance to sit and chat, and plus, we had an excuse to eat treats. Win, win, win. (And another win if you give the chocolate chips their own.)

A little ballcano action. She may be 11 months, but it seems like Lissy likes to party, right?

This toy was the definite favorite. I heard Josh saying to a neighbor earlier in the day, "It seems like a baby toy, but it's not just for babies. Watch this."

First boy to get a special bag.

I put 3 out of the 4 toys together the night before. The Stride to Ride puppy looked like he was already put together, though. I mean, my kids had been playing with him for a few weeks while still in his box. Andrew had his songs memorized. So, imagine my surprise when shortly before the party I went to free him from his box, and his head was detached from his body. Oops! Oh, well, turns out this kid is super good at screwing in actual screws. Unplanned entertainment!

This little girl loved the Apptivity Monkey. Andrew couldn't get enough of it later on, either. 

Finally, my excuse to make lemon cake! I broke the don't make something for a party you've never made before rule, but everyone loved it. My baby loves berries and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, so that's what all the babies got. Sidenote: Gary loved the cake, but said later that before he tried it he was afraid it was one of those things girls think is good, but really isn't. Um, no such thing as that category, Gare.

These babies are so close in age, and got their first chance to play. So cute that they actually liked being around each other.

This baby was cooing and laughing at the puppy . . .until I took a picture.

Yeah, she thinks she is pretty awesome when she is riding on the puppy and when she is pushing it.

I had a great time seeing some people at the party I don't get to talk to a lot, and also people I do. People told me they liked it . . . thanks Fisher Price! So, Lissy's birthday is a couple of weeks away . . . can anyone guess what she's getting?