Happy 1st Birthday, Papoose!

Papoose is officially over 1 year old! (Another post very late in posting...)

Munchkin had a big 3rd birthday, but we don't really go all out for all birthdays.  We reserve 1st brithdays for just family.  Really, Brad and I are just too lazy/cheep to go all-out on a birthday the child won't remember.  So, 1st birthdays are a family only celebration.

Brad's parents and sister came over for dinner and cake.  We ended up inviting the missionaries, too, at the last minute because they didn't have anyone feeding them that evening.

After dinner we sang "Happy Birthday" and brought Papoose her smash cake.  She wasn't interested.  We tried to get her to eat some of it, but she refused.  Then someone got the bright idea of sprinkling mini-M&Ms on top because earlier in the day, Nana had introduced her to M&Ms and they were a big hit.  She dug in for the chocolate right away, got some frosting in the process, and decided she would explore the cake.  Not much made it to her mouth, but she did finally make the expected mess for traditional 1st birthday pictures.

I for one won't complain that my baby preferred to not overindulge in the sugary goodness, unlike the rest of us...

Because we were awful at capturing the first birthday on camera, here are some pictures of the Papoose.

Ready, Set, Go: Happy 3rd Birthday to Munchkin!

Ok, so this is being posted MONTHS late. Sorry!

Munchkin began asking for a CARS birthday just days after her 2nd birthday. Consequently, I always knew her 3rd birthday would be Cars themed.

We had such a blast!

We had planned on making an outdoor track in the backyard and having the kids all make their own "race cars" from cardboard boxes and some creative odds and ends, and having races in the yard.  The weather was beautiful all week (for April in Northeast Ohio, anyway), but the day of her birthday it was supposed to SNOW!  and snow it did.  :-(

Brad and I got creative the night before after looking at the weather forecast.  We bought some masking tape and black trash bags, cut up the bags into long strips, and taped them to the floor to make it look like a road.  Then we taped red, yellow, and green balloons together to look like traffic lights along the road.  When Munchkin woke up the next morning to discover her "road" she happily exclaimed, "Santa brought me my Cars, birthday!"  She followed it through the house all day.  It was a big hit with the party guests, too.

These are the best pictures of the "road" we built through the house.  I thought we had better ones, but they must be on a different camera... darn.

And we tried to serve themed snacks... which is really just my way of saying we tried to think of cool names to label the snacks to make them fit the Cars theme in true Pinterest fashion. ;-)

(apparently, the food pictures are lost on some other device, also!  bug bummer.  I was pretty proud of them.)

Overall, it was a great party, even if I learned that I have no clue how to handle a house full of children from age 11 years down to 11 months.  Wonder what Munchkin will ask for next year???

Her birthday presents from Mom and Dad. Mom tied the Cars quilt, Dad wanted to pass down love for one of his favorite sports.  We also finally fixed the tires on a bike that was handed down to us by a family friend (Thanks, Natalie Saxey), so she got a bike, and helmet from another family friend (Thanks, Melinda!), too.

Munchkin with her red and yellow traffic balloons stuck to her hair.  She was SO excited when she woke up, declaring, "Santa brought me my Cars birthday!!!"

For dinner, Munchkin's Nana and Grandpa and aunt Sam came over.  And we invited the missionaries, too.  Munchkin's favorite dinner is burritos, so we went out to a local restaurant that has delicious "Mexican" food.

 Munchkin got to wear a sombrero and the hosts and servers sang happy birthday to her.

 Oh, and the free dessert that she shared with everyone.  She's so sweet!

At the end of the day, she used her birthday money to get a new jacket and a Cars umbrella.  It was such a fun birthday.  We left the "road" taped to the floor for about a week or so.

Family Reunion Adventures

This will mostly be just a photo review of the Family Reunion, as it was back in July, and we finally just uploaded the pictures to the computer from the camera (aka: Brad's phone).

Friday, July 12, we flew out of Canton/Akron airport straight to Denver, Co.  Papoose did not fly well.  the flight was smack in the middle of her nap time, and she is one who only likes to sleep in her bed and on her tummy, NEVER in anyone's arms.  A large chunk of the flight out was spent trying to muffle her tired crying. Luckily, we were literally surrounded by other families with little ones close to Papoose's age or younger, so they were either (a) not bothered because they were used to it, (b) just glad it wasn't them, (c) or understanding enough despite their irritation that they didn't say anything. Either way, we were grateful, adn so glad when the flight was over. 

We spent Friday night at Brad's Papa DeShazer's home; this is his AWESOME backyard that the kids were exploring.  You can see Munchkin and one of Brad's cousins' kids (can't remember which one). Enjoyed dinner with the local DeShazer families; Munchkin had the BEST time playing with her 2nd-cousins.  It's rare she has lots of playmates close to her age, and this was a house full of 11 kids, most within 2-3 years of Munchkin's age. We drove the 10-ish hours to Bozeman, MT the next morning.

We stopped to see a temple on the way. Didn't do any work, just enjoyed some good stretching time on temple grounds.

Brad's aunt June opened her home to us during the reunion.  This is where Papoose perfected the art of going downstairs by crawling backwards.

We spent 2 of the 6 days of the reunion visiting nearby Yellowstone National Park.  Such an interesting place!  I'd love to go back again someday when the kids are older and do some fun homeschool adventures, and really learn more about the history, geology, and natural features at the Park.  

Some neat hot springs, you can see the steam rising up from the boiling water.

More neat hot pools and such.  Seriously, I need to get a book on Yellowstone geology!

It was pretty chilly in the mornings, by the afternoon most days, it was pretty warm.  Munchkin and I by the cool hot water/rock features.  (Seriously, I'm embarrassed I don't remember the name of this place. It was one of the first we visited, and one of the neatest!)

Munchkin and her closest-in-age 2nd-cousin at the Neeley reunion. (Munchkin is actually sitting here next to me as I type crying that her cousin is too far away to visit. They played every chance they got.  

Like father, like son.  Brad and his dad carrying Munchkin and Papoose on the boardwalk.  Love that I captured this moment!

Papoose liked the little details.  She's shaking hands with a tree while on a short walk to see the paint pots.

Thanks to Brad's cousin Traci, we had the use of this awesome stroller!  The girls were a bit cold that morning. :-)

This place was breath-taking. (Literally! I was having massive asthma problems while there; combination of out-of-control allergies, high elevation, lots of hiking, and pregnancy. I felt physically awful, but still so glad I went!)  And so happy to get some time with Brad. :-)

The girls were pooped!  Again, SO glad to have a good stroller!

We saw LOTS of buffalo, this one got really close to the car.

Traffic completely stopped for this herd of 200+ buffalo to cross the river.  Once on the other side, the young buffalo started chasing Canada geese.  We saw so many buffalo!  Everytime we saw one, Munchkin would point and shout, "Buffalo! Buffalo!" I think it was her favorite part.  She still talks about all the buffalo she saw; it may be among her favorite animals.

Dancing on a stump with her 2nd cousin.  Traci's olsest daughter was such a fun helper and so kind to Munchkin!  We love her.

Momma and Papoose, trying to remove Mom's attempt at keeping hair out of her face.

Papoose loves her grandpa!  This was taken at one of the many waterfalls.

Some elk causing a traffic backup because everyone wanted to take a picture. We could almost touch them, they were so close!

If i remember correctly, this was along a trail near Old Faithful. Our 2nd day in Yellowstone we saw Old Faithful and took a long walk to see the Morning Glory pool, and a few other geysers along the way.

 Just enjoying the ride...

Daddy and Munchkin as Old Faithful errupts.  It was much warmer the second day.

We never did get to see the mama grizzly with her cubs.  But maybe that's a good thing?

At the Morning Glory hot pool.  The colors are different types of algae that thrive at various temperatures.  The water is VERY hot!

Just some adorableness.  These girls had a great deal: get to see all the awesome sights without having to do all the walking.

Munchkin and her 2nd cousin playing outside.

Picking "wildflowers" for their mommies.  What sweethearts!

Playing inside a basketball, and with some blocks.

One of Papoose's favorite things to do is crawl on top of someone's head and lay there, laughing.  Having some good sister fun!

Papoose's favorite toy is a ball, any kind. Give her a ball, and she is a happy baby.

After the reunion, we drove the 10-sh hours back to the Denver area to stay the weekend with Papa DeShazer again and spend more time with the DeShazer cousins.  Also, to our great pleasure, our best friends the Hofmann's were making a trip to the Denver area that weekend, so we were able to see them for the first time in nearly 2 years and meet their adorable little boy, fondly called Tank.  

Tank and Papoose.  Tank is a fitting name for this boy!  I think he's about 5 months younger than Papoose, and he's bigger than her.  LOVE Papoose's face in this picture as the two of them jump on the couch together! :-)  

Papoose didn't explore the backyard much the first night we stayed at Papa's house, since she was completely exhausted after the plane experience.  This time, we had trouble keeping her from wandering out alone in the yard.
Also, important to note: Papoose took her first timid steps while on the reunion, shortly before turning 14 months.  4 little steps in Bozeman.  About 6 in Denver.  Then NOTHING for 2 weeks after we returned home. (Now's she's a walking champ!) This picture captured a rare moment when she was standing all by herself and clapping for herself at this amazing achievement. :-)

With our best friends, the Hofmanns!  Love and miss you guys! (oh, and Tami, if you're reading this, I have like 5 more shots of this pictures, some less blurry but not everyone looking at the camera.  Remind me to email you all the originals.)

Not sure how we managed it, but we never got full family pictures, or the Neeleys or the DeShazers!!!  (or if someone did, I don't have copies...) We had such a blast!  The plane home was a bit earlier in the day, so Papoose wasn't as cranky and only cried intermittantly the last 30-ish minutes.  Much nicer.