Camden's First Birthday

I was just going to dump all the pictures onto this post and let them speak for themselves, but I poured hours and hours of labor into making this robot party a success with the help of some very dear friends and family members, so I figured it was best to take the time to point out all the tedious details... Here we go! 

(Get ready for the longest post ever...)

Sunday, October 13, 2013... Party day! The day after my sweet, still-toothless little Camden (aka Biggy McBiggs, Dude, Mister Man) officially turned 1! 

Table in the entryway... All bunting flags were hand-cut from construction paper by me and Auntie E.  Gears cut out of scrapbooking papers.

The party invitation:

Handmade gear frame:

Robot on left made by Avery:

Robot coloring wall, set up with the help and creativity of Auntie Jennifer:

Hand-cut robots with one picture showing each month of Camden's life:

Robot party favors for the kids (made from crayons, play-doh, chalk and Rolo candies):

The food (signs made with help by Auntie E):

Cupcakes/Smash Cake made by my mom:

The yard:

The birthday boy showing off his robot shirt that Mommy made for him:

Ok I think that covers most of the little details.... So now, the party!

I got an almost identical picture of Avery in the bouncer on her first birthday...

Had to do this side-by-side comparison!

Auntie E and Kathryn sporting their robot jewelry:

And of course, the cake smash:

VIDEO: CAMDEN'S FIRST BIRTHDAY CAKE SMASH

Camden decided to take a three hour nap in the middle of his party. 

So we opened his presents without him.

He received some very cool gifts, including this tent to match his room, handmade for him by my cousin Melissa with the same fabric as his crib bedding!

And this wall art, made by my cousin Beth:

And this puzzle, modified by Uncle Aaron:

Of course when he woke up he got to enjoy everything!

And.... the aftermath!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Little Dude!!!

Photo Credits: Melanie Vogel, Bella Fiore Photography, Kim Manzo, Kristen Ness, Josh Ness, Beth Vogel, Erin Gardner

Avery's First Train Trip

When I was a kid, our family used to ride with my friend Erin (Auntie E) and her family every summer on the train to Del Mar for a day-trip to the beach. It was one of the highlights of the summer, and something we always looked forward to doing right before the start of the school year.

Auntie E, Auntie J and I decided to revisit this tradition last Saturday. 

Since it was Avery's first time on a real train, she was very excited!

Being three is hard and means you have no patience. So when we had to wait for a few minutes for the train to arrive, the excitement started to wear off....

Until the train roared into the station! 

It was a double-decker, and we beelined for the top deck so we could have the best view. Getting to look out the window and play around without wearing a seat belt was quite a novelty for Avery.  She enjoyed unlimited snacks and couldn't get enough of the fold-down trays.

In fact, all four of us were having SO much fun snacking and chatting, that we didn't get down to the exit doors in time, and missed our stop in Solana Beach!

The conductor told us that we had to stay on until downtown San Diego, get off, wait, and then reboard and head back up the coast.  Sigh. This not only delayed us by almost two hours, it cut our beach time down to only 45 minutes.  Oh well, it's an adventure, right?

So we made the best of our downtime in San Diego.... Hanging out on the platform...

Finally around 11:30, we made it to beautiful Solana Beach! 

We hardly had time to roll out our towels, but we made the best of it.

Lightning speed sand castle...

Quick fun in the ocean...

...And back to the train!

Still a blast, even with the hiccup... We'll get it right next year!

Camden's First Haircut

Josh has been badgering me for weeks to let Camden get a haircut, insisting every time he cries that "He is crying because he is embarrassed about his hair."

I have been standing my ground until I felt that he had grown enough hair for me to save a little lock of it for his baby book.  

So yesterday after some pool time, this little troublemaker finally went under the scissors!

Naturally, I filled up the memory card before Julie was done cutting, so I didn't get a picture of the finished product. But he looks very handsome.

Reverse Psych-tography

Trying to get pictures of the kids... 

Camden - so easy. You call his name, make some squeaky sounds, and he looks at you and gives you a big gummy grin. 

Miss three-year-old, on the other hand, not so much. 

Avery's favorite thing to do is whatever thing is the opposite of the thing I am telling her to do.

"Avery can you smile please? Mommy is trying to get a picture of you."

Fine.  

"AVERY. DO NOT SMILE."

"AVERY! STOP. I TOLD YOU NOT TO SMILE. STOP SMILING."

"WHY ARE YOU SMILING? I SAID DON'T SMILE!"

"AVERY. LISTEN TO ME. DO. NOT. SMILE."

"AVERY! NO! NO MORE SMILING!"

 I win.