Kate's Cow Birthday Party at Chick-fil-A

Kate's 2nd birthday party was Saturday at a nearby Chick-fil-A, and it was so much fun! CFA did a fabulous job with the setup. It was great--all I had to do was drop off the tablecloths and balloons (ordered off of eBay), and they did the decorating. About 45 minutes before the party started, my sister and I showed up with the cake and the goodie bags. Because CFA had done such a great job, we had plenty of time to put the finishing touches on everything before the guests arrived.

I was so excited to find out that a local CFA did birthday parties. As you know, I am a huge CFA fan--and Kate loves CFA, too. So it seemed rather fitting to have her birthday party there. Even though her party ended up being the day after CFA's Cow Appreciation Day (in which we participated big-time!), we didn't mind. We could eat there every day--except for Sunday, of course.

This particular CFA offers two different party packages. We went with the slightly more expensive (though still very reasonable) one because it included an ice cream bar--which Tanna really wanted ... and which turned out to be a big hit with the kids! The package also included a visit from the CFA cow as well as a kid's meal, a mini CFA stuffed cow, and a plastic CFA cup for each child. I bought the cake at Publix, and I also did the little goodie bags (more on those in a later post). Oh yeah--CFA also inflated the balloons for us, which saved us some money, too! I checked with Party City on how much they charge to inflate balloons that are brought in--and, although I can't remember how much it was going to be, it was more than I expected, for sure!

CFA reserved a section of the restaurant for us, and the kids enjoyed playing on the indoor playground after dinner, cake and ice cream. This particular CFA isn't too busy on Saturday late afternoons/early evenings, so it really worked out to not be very crowded at all. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story. Thank you, CFA!


The invitation--I found a lady on eBay (I think) who customized this design for us. She was so easy to work with. After a couple of proofs, we had the invitations printed like regular photos. So affordable ... and cute! Included with each invitation was a little card that invited guests--in lieu of gifts--to make a donation to Heifer International (in keeping with the cow theme), Samaritan's Purse, or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.


Overall view of the party area and setup. CFA did a wonderful job with the decorating.


Cake and goodie bags


Close up of cake. I found a photo online of a very similar cake. We ended up getting the cake from Publix ... only $15.99 ... and DELICIOUS!! (Publix is known for its awesome cakes.) Can you believe Matty Cakes wanted $65 for this same cake? That quote was for fondant icing (which we didn't end up getting), but STILL .. crazy!


The Birthday Girl! A friend on one of my favorite message boards sent Kate this outfit--isn't it adorable? (Kate wore it on Friday for Cow Appreciation Day, too.) My friend's little girl also had a cow- or farm-themed 2nd birthday party, and she had worn this outfit for her big day as well. I saw a photo of her little girl wearing the ensemble and sent her a message, asking where she got it. She was so sweet--she sent it to Kate and would not take any money for it! We sent her little girl a few goodies in return. :o)


Some of the party-goers partying it up!


Kate's friends were very generous!


Here comes the cow! I felt bad because a lot of the kids were afraid of the cow and started crying ... sorry, guys. We still love you, CFA Cow ... maybe just from a distance for some of us, though. ;o)


The Skaggs Fam with the cow ...


... and the Pierce fam, too (minus Anna-Claire). Anna-Claire, where are you?


There she is!


Halabaji and Halmoni were there, too! We sure missed Grammy and Grampy--they had to stay in Tennessee because Grammy had surgery last week and is still recovering. (We hope to see you soon!)


Time to make a wish!


Kate is not quite sure what to think!


The ice cream bar ... yummmmm!


Surveying the selections ...


Here we are with our 2-year-old! (How did she grow up so fast?)


All smiles for a family photo.


Tanna gives Chick-fil-A two thumbs up!

I took a bunch more photos (as you can imagine), so here is a link to some more (but not all--LOL!) ...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87411&id=708114294&l=085ae9e705

And here are some my friend Donna took, too! (Thanks, Donna!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29074950@N08/sets/72157621329267902/show/