Happy Birthday, Truby!
Recently both my husband and my best friend graduated from college. Since we're all creeping towards 40, neither of them felt particularly excited or proud about it. It was just something they worked hard at, yes, but both of them clearly didn't have the starry eyed excitement of someone in their early 20s, newly educated and ready for their first 'real' job.
Both of their families wanted to celebrate though. So I spent a bit of time thinking about it, and then explaining to them why their family wanted to celebrate even though they themselves didn't feel like there was anything special.
I realized it's because life can be really boring. At best. At worst, it can suck. Especially in husband's case, where a bunch of the family was getting together to visit his father who's in failing health. Last year they lost a beloved member of the family, and just recently, another. Having a little graduation party wasn't really about the husband, it was a much needed excuse to get together and have a good time.
Of course, both their families were proud of them (even if my friend and my husband weren't especially proud of themselves.) They wanted to celebrate the time and effort and money they had invested in themselves in hopes of creating a better life. They did work hard, they did learn a lot, and they had to set aside a lot of free time to do so. And their families (me included!) are proud of them.
Plus, who doesn't love an excuse to eat some cake?
A Truby party has been an idea I've had for years, but never actually done for no real good reason. But with the above thoughts in mind, I decided to have a party this year. Life can be boring. Or it can be stressful. Or both. Plus, let's eat some cake! So I threw myself into planning a really great party. I had a blast planning it. I decided to go all out, with games, prizes, and food. It was going to be fairly small, just barn friends, but it was gonna be fun.
Getting set up
Everyone seemed really excited about coming, but at the last minute, the barn owner and her sister had to deal with a family thing and couldn't make it. Bummer! Husband came to help me set up, and when we got there, M and Cinco where gone. And I began to wonder if I was going to host a party no one came to. I was determined to enjoy it, even by myself, but I was also going to feel like a pathetic loser if no one showed!
We got everything set up, and a few minutes after 4pm, Jena and her daughter arrived! They were super excited, and we took pictures of everything, and especially Truby. Not longer after, K, Annie's owner walked into the barn. I asked if she was there to see Annie, or to party, and she replied "I'm here to party!" Whoo hoo! Truby's party was a party!
Checking out the prizes
"I could win this Truby Trivia contest"
Checking out the people cake
I had gotten paper unicorn headbands, and we started off by getting drinks (pink lemonade with frozen strawberries and water with frozen mixed berries. The water turned a really pretty pale purple.) and decorating our headbands. While we were coloring and chatting away, M pulled up! She had mistaken the start time, but that was okay. She put Cinco away, and we got her some unicorn punch and a headband.
Best pic of the unicorn headbands
It was really nice, all of us just hanging out together. It was hot and sunny, but in the shade of the barn, with cold drinks and friends, it was perfect. In true horse girl fashion, I'm pretty sure we could have just talked horses and horse people all night, but K had to leave, so I stared the games.
Truby ended up being the only one who played Pin the Tail on the Unicorn, because the Gator got parked in front of it (plus we kinda forgot it was there!) but everyone played Truby Trivia and How Many Treats in the Jar. I also had Equestrians Against Normalcy, but we never got that far.
Test your Truby knowledge!
After scoring the trivia contest, I gave out the correct answers, and then shared a whole bunch of baby Truby pictures I had brought with me. Because what's better than cute baby pics?
CAKE
In addition to regular people cake (and gluten free people cupcakes) I had also made pony cupcakes. So we got Annie and Cinco out, along with Truby, and we sang Happy Birthday to her. She spent the entire time trying to get her cupcake. And when I finally gave it to her, she sucked it down before I could peel the paper off!
M has cupcakes????
Annie didn't like her cupcake and spat it all out
Cinco was intrigued, but unsure
Kenna has cupcakes????
Cupcakes with friends
Loose Unicorn!!!!!!
Truby loved her cupcakes so much, that when I put her back in her stall, she spun around and darted back to the party area, hoping for more! She's such a naughty unicorn! The entire property is fenced, so I wasn't worried about her getting loose-loose. I couldn't help but laugh at her silliness. It was easy enough to grab her, and return her to her stall, especially since I brought another cupcake along with me.
Afterwards we ate our people cake and people cupcakes (Jena is gluten free, so I made her a batch of cupcakes filled with homemade lemon curd. If you ever want to sound extra extra, tell people you're making gluten free cupcakes for a horse's birthday party. Eyes will roll!)
The party wound down as the sun set, and after cake we took a walk on the Backyard trail, and poured out the berry 'ice cubes' for the coyotes. It was almost completely dark as we got back to the barn, so we broke down the party and packed up. I sent everyone home with their party favor boxes (of course there were party favors! Unicorn themed, obviously) and we all went home, tired, but happy.
Auri helping make up party favors
My party went pretty well as planned. We missed out on a few games (Pin the Tail, Equestrians Against Normalcy, and I had gotten some pony paint so everyone could paint a real life Truby) but that was okay. We had a ton of fun, and even the horses enjoyed it. Planning the party was a lot of fun for me, and helped distract me from some worries I have. And getting my favorite Tucson horse friends together was a blast! Everyone had a really good time. I'll definitely have another party for Truby. Maybe something fancy for her 21st????
Gonna need some champagne next time!
