The Birthday Party

Olivia got lots of gifts in the mail from friends and family in TN, so we let her open most of them on her actual birthday. She was a little excited:





She's only in a diaper, because she smeared chocolate frosting all over her shirt. She was pretty happy with all her "pwesents!"
We started a new gymnastics class Saturday and she's doing pretty well. The first class we took was at our local rec center, but I signed her up at an actual gymnastics center now. She loves the trampoline and she can do a front roll (Maggie and Aubrey taught her that at the beach!). I'm curious to see how she does the next few months.

Her birthday party was the first "party" we've had at our house since we moved to Colorado. We were obviously a little rusty; from buying way too much food (anyone need a bag of onions or macaroni salad?), to not knowing what to do when a huge thunderstorm rolled in 10 minutes after the party started, to me freaking out on Michael for giving Olivia a Flinstone vitamin 10 minutes before the party started (if you're out of the Flinstone vitamin loop, they are a lovely red color that Olivia immediately drooled on her birthday shirt). Yeah, a little rusty!
However, I think things turned out pretty well. Everyone seemed to have a good time! Luckily, Harold (who works with Michael) and his wife, Missy, have cook-outs pretty frequently and they helped us out tremendously- Harold actually grilled all the food! It wasn't just Harold and Missy- everyone was willing to jump in and help or ask if I needed help, which was awesome. We may not have family close, but we are blessed with great friends!
My friend Lindsay let us borrow her jump house, which was a huge hit:



This was right before the thunderstorm- I can tell, because the balloons are still floating! (By the way, doesn't the deck look great?!)



We've had brief thunderstorms in the afternoons the past week or so. They don't last long, but being an optimist, I convinced myself it wouldn't rain Saturday. I was wrong. Maybe half our guests had arrived and we had just blown up the bounce house when we heard the first clap of thunder. We quickly deflated the bounce house and rolled it under the tent, hoping it would stay dry, then grabbed the appetizers and headed inside. More guests arrived and we watched the rain pound the balloons and the wind rip off the tablecloths. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry- we had about 10 kids ages 2-6 and their parents crammed into the playroom. Luckily, the rain only lasted 10-15 minutes, then the sun came out. We lost some chips and crackers, no big deal!
The sandbox was a hit, too:



I love this next picture. This was right after Avry dumped a shovel full of sand in Olivia's hair. They're looking at her dad, who was telling Avry not to put sand in Olivia's hair. I love the look on Olivia's face- "no, really- it's OK. I'll dump sand in Avry's hair as soon as you're not looking."



We did a little eating:



And blowing out candles:





Michael caught on video my favorite moment of the whole party. I called all the kids over to sing and they gathered around Olivia. This is what happened next- watch Landon (the bottom right corner of the video):



Hilarious! Sweet, sweet Landon, our neighbor who has loved Olivia since the day she was born (and now has his very own baby brother to love on!). It's really hard for kids at a birthday party! We encourage sharing and taking turns, but there's only one birthday girl/boy and they get all the presents, attention, and blowing out the candles. Those blazing candles right in front of him proved to be too much! Olivia didn't mind and I re-lit them for her.

Moving on to presents!





I wanted just one picture with my girl at her birthday party, but she wasn't having it:



Overall, we had a great time! This was the aftermath- our kitchen after the party:



Wow, that was some work! We went to Avry's birthday party Sunday afternoon, which made for a busy weekend (and lots of cake and sugar for a little girl!). She was a little grumpy today and went to bed early, so hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate our little girl!!

T-W-O

This sweet girl:




is TWO today. Mommy is amazed at how fast the time has gone. Her birthday party is tomorrow and we've been running around like crazy trying to get ready today! Many, many more pictures are on the way...

These videos have nothing to do with her birthday, but I had to share them!
Playing at the beach:




Olivia and Avry both love the Monsters, Inc. movie. This is their reaction during the first scene- every time they watch the movie!



Silly girls!

Litchfield Beach!

Beach baby. That pretty much describes Olivia! She loved the beach- the sand, the water, everything. It was so nice to not have to worry about her being afraid, although that goes both ways! We were standing on the beach one day and a couple asked me to take their picture. I (of course) obliged, then turned around to see Olivia running full throttle down the beach. Mom was trying her best to catch her and Brett was a few paces behind (holding Aiden!). I took off after them and Brett finally caught her. Sheesh. A little scared might have been OK!
I think her favorite part was playing with her cousins, though!



Having all the kids together definitely called for a photo shoot. :)
I think my favorite part of the whole trip was just having family close. We stayed with Michael's parents in a condo and Brett, Rachel, Maggie, Aubrey, Aiden, and Mom were in a room not far from us. It was so nice to just be around family! Brett, Rachel, Michael, and I even managed to go out to eat by ourselves! It was awesome.



That's the marshy/swampy area behind our condo. The kids (and grandparents!) thought they spotted an alligator, which is possible, considering all the "Do not molest the alligator" signs. Interesting choice of words.



That's Michael and David jumping some waves. Talk about loving the water- David was out there more than any of us! There were some big waves, but he got right back up and kept going. Fun!

Michael's not one to sit on the beach day after day, so we headed to Brookgreen Gardens one afternoon. It's a non profit organization that has a zoo with local animals, a pontoon boat ride, a sculpture museum, and beautiful gardens. However, July in South Carolina at 2:30 in the afternoon is not what I would call comfortable. We were all drenched in sweat after 2 minutes. We most wanted to see the zoo, so we headed there first. Olivia loved the animals and the heat seemed to bother her the least. I think Michael and I forgot (or mentally blocked) exactly how humid it is in the south. Wow. I did manage to get 2 pictures of Olivia that I absolutely love:





I like these so much, that I think I might actually attempt her 2 year pictures myself. I was planning on taking her to a professional, but we'll see what I come up with first...

We also headed to a local pier for some fishing. Unfortunately, it seems the fish aren't too happy with the heat either. They ate the bait a few times, but no bites.



I think Maggie was a little disappointed. She stayed out in the hot sun with Brett the entire time. The rest of us tried to stay in the shade as much as possible!
Michael's fun for the week was renting a motorcycle for a day. It wasn't his first choice of bike, but it was fun!



He even got his Mom on for a quick ride:



It was just an all around great time. I wish we could have stayed longer!



Maggie is such a good big sister (so is Aubrey!)



Funny, when Rachel holds Aiden- he looks like her. When Brett holds Aiden- he looks like him. He's definitely cute and a year old now!

I'll sign off with a few more pictures. I wish we were still there!

Going back to Cali...

Well, we'd like to go back! We had a great trip to California with Mom. She flew in Saturday night (June 26th), so I was busy getting her room ready and laundry finished, so we could pack. I did manage another new hairstyle:



Fun!
I was trying to clean out my closet (which was waaaaaay overdue) and Olivia was particularly interested in my old purses. I let her play with them, because they were mostly cleaned out. Of course, she managed to find a few things:



Note the lip gloss on her knees and toenails. I believe she's going to like make-up one day!

Unfortunately, Mom got hit pretty hard with altitude sickness, so we laid low Sunday and left for California Monday (and she felt much better when we were at sea level!). Olivia did wonderful on the flight! We ate dinner (Mexican!) and made it to the condo in time to watch Disney Land's fireworks from the roof. Definitely made us excited for Disney!
We slept in a little, but got to Disney fairly early Tuesday. I was somewhat apprehensive, but she absolutely loved it! The rides, the characters, the food, she loved it all! A few pics from our day:



Dumbo was a hit!



On Mickey's couch.



No tears with Mickey!





The above picture is a playground outside of Goofy's house. The character houses were her favorite.

She did take a nap in her stroller and give us a chance to ride some bigger rides (Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain!).



There are lots more pictures, but we'll move on for now! This Disney trip made me want to take her to Disney World for a whole week (maybe next year?!).

Wednesday we drove south to San Juan Capistrano, which is a mission that was built in the 1700's. It is in pristine condition and beautiful:



Olivia was asleep when we first arrived, but woke up and quickly found a pond with HUGE koi.



She was delighted.



She watched the fish for a long time. Then she chased a butterfly- do you see it in the picture?



This was a gorgeous, peaceful place.





We headed back to LA and did a little shopping. Olivia was a little off with her sleep schedule and woke up at 3:30 AM, ready to play. We walked the halls of the condo for awhile and watched a movie. She finally drifted off again around 7:00. Luckily, she was in a good mood when she woke up again and we headed to the beach! The ocean was FREEZING, but she loved the sand:



That's the Santa Monica Pier behind her. She kept pointing to it and saying "fun!"







We had a picnic lunch, then headed to our next destination: Hollywood!

Grauman's Chinese Theater:



This is where all the celebrities leave their hand and footprints:



We walked up and down, looking at all the stars.



There were some fountains in the middle of an outdoor mall. Olivia loved them:



Just being there was a neat experience. We shopped for a few souvenirs (naturally), then headed to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.



Olivia was a bit bewildered. I think she was waiting on them to move!





We left the wax museum, got caught in some traffic, made it to the condo and collapsed. :)

Friday, we checked out, did some shopping, then headed to the airport. We had a fabulous time! Mary Lee was a great tour guide. I haven't flown at night in a year or so. We flew over Las Vegas, really neat! We landed around 11:30 PM, so we slept late Saturday. Mom watched Olivia for us Saturday, so Michael and I went to Blackhawk (casinos!) by ourselves. It was the first "date" we've had since Olivia was born! Thanks!
Sunday was the 4th and mom went with us to a local "fair" before heading to the airport:





We dropped mom off at the airport, then headed home. An hour or so later, we had a HORRIBLE hail storm:



It unfortunately hit right when mom's plane was supposed to take off. Her flight had already boarded, so they were stuck on the runway for almost 3 hours. Because of the delay, she missed her connection in Atlanta and had to spend the night in the airport. Sorry, mom! I'm glad we had a good time, maybe she can forget the end of the trip. ;)

Wow, this was a long post! If you made it this far, you're probably related to us. ;) Have a good week!