As you know, we celebrated Abe's first birthday in St. Louis over the July 4 weekend. Mike's parents threw a great family barbeque and invited their extended family. In my opinion, this was the best way to celebrate. Lots of good food, lots of family, lots of cupcakes... mmmm, cupcakes.
The morning of the party we had to first make sure the lawn was tidied up :-) with Abe's new bubble mower. Dad quickly gave the new motor a tune up...
Anna jumped into gear to make sure the grass was short and the bubbles were plentiful. Abe took a nice long nap while the family worked hard. The prince needed to be refreshed for his guests and ready to chow down. Fortunately, he was in a great mood and handled all the people and noise really well.
Grandma Betty was ready and willing to hold Abe and provide sufficiently high numbers of kisses and cuddles. It's one of her secret talents, keeping kids happy and smiley. If only we could take advantage of this more often!
The blueberry appetizers were a great starter course. But I think he knew there were cupcakes somewhere in the room. He had the cupcake-hungry look about him. Surprising since he'd never had one before. Some things are innate.
Sure the clapping and singing is nice, but did someone mention CUPCAKES???
Everyone gathered around for Happy Birthday and blowing out the candle. Abe seemed quite entertained by it all, kicking his legs and reaching for the candle. Blow those candles, guys, I'm ready to party!
Ahh... sweet sweet cupcake sweetness. Unlike his sister, who didn't know what to make of the stuff, Abe dug in right away. He knew what he was doing, alright. Just biding his time til we delivered the goods.
Time for a quick family portrait. Adults cooperated nicely. Kids, um, they were a bit distracted.
Because Mike and I don't have siblings with children, Anna and Abe do not have any cousins. Therefore, the kids of our extended family members are de facto cousins when we're in St. Louis. This weekend was great because Mike's cousins' kids were able to come and join in the fun. All the kids had a great time and then decided to go swimming in the neighborhood pool. As Anna walked with Grandma and the rest of the group up the hill to the pool, I could hear her asking, "are my cousins coming? Are they coming with us?" Awww... it brought a smile to my face. She adores her cousins and Abe will also... once he's old enough to understand what a cousin is.
Cousin Evie and her mom Mickie catch a quick cuddle.
Overall, the trip was a wonderful celebration and a great time. Abe just toddled around the entire time, chasing after one boy and then another. When he gets a little older, he'll be running right along with them. Until then I'm going to savor the last remaining days of his babyhood. Happy birthday, my beautiful boy. We love you so very much!
UPDATE: Okay, when I read over this today I realized that I should have specified that Abe and Anna don't have any little cousins their own age. They are actually quite lucky to be gaining a new cousin this October when Aunt Pam marries Earnie, allowing us to make Madison the first official cousin. Yeah!!
1 comment:
Yea! Very cute post. Love all the pictures.
Post a Comment