For Elsie’s birthday, grammie and grandpa got her a Sand and Water Table – a perfect height for a little girl, and a kneeling dad…
While dad likes to build sand castles, elsie much prefers to SPLASH!
One waterproof smock from Etsy is on its way!
This weekend we were invited to an afternoon gathering – we arrived without the most important item for a translucent baby girl with red hair – a sun hat! Fortunately Bill and Linda offered up some hats from their boys (Will and Tim) and instantly a little Jets fan was made.
Here is Mark telling Elsie all about the team of destiny …
She isn’t convinced … but she sure looks cute in green!
Dear Jets, Don’t break my daughters heart this year.
Heather and Finley came down for a visit and we had so much fun! We captured some photos of the girls playing on the grass – we can tell they are already best friends.
here they are gossiping about their moms …
Finley is adorable – one look and she beams a smile right back.
Elsie showing finley some dance moves
here they are practicing their pyramid, sadly I didn’t get the shot of the final pose.
Finely showing Elsie the true way to crawl!
I look forward to many more fun times with the girls!
Grammie gave Elsie her first crayons and they spent some time coloring together. For those of you who don’t know, my mom is an amazing drawer – if you ever have the chance to play pictionary fight to have her as your partner.
We had a great time at Elsie’s first birthday … we had lots of friends join us for an afternoon of chatting and eating. Elsie was a princess in her birthday outfit from Heather and Finley (who flew in to celebrate the big day). (excuse the number of photos 
Elsie in her birthday skirt, with her name on her bloomers, wondering why grammie is holding Saffie and not her.
Elsie is surrounded by fun playmates …
Kyla and Elsie
Meredith and Elsie …
Karlien and Rob
Kristin and Kai!
Kai and Karlien communicating through hand signals … Shaaaazaaam!
Boys!
Finley!
We even had greg d in the house!
Birthday’s aren’t always smiles … but hey, its her party and she’ll cry if she wants to.
and when one cousin cries, the other gives a sympathy cry
A little milk and cuddles from the grammie will do the trick
The cousins were back in business
Like father, like daughter
Fun with Grandpa, Bubbles!
Magic Straws (with Emma and Sophie!)
Mark (playing the role of Scott) throwing the baby around – she loves it!
And, of course, first cake*
After the party we were beat – elsie sat down to open a few gifts with Auntie Chloe…
Finley had some snuggles with grammie
Happy first birthday Elsie Lane!
* we say first cake, but the day before I came into the kitchen to see grandpa kevin giving Elsie her first cake ahead of the day – more of a practice round I guess.
We had so much fun with Elsie’s first birthday. I love working on little details (it drives mark crazy) but I definitely think the details make the party.
We found some fun headbands in the target $1 area and that set the theme for the Garden Tea party. I found some fun paper at the Hobby Lobby. We did a photo shoot and got some great photos of Elsie for her invite. Mark (the spray mount champ) was a huge help with production work.
We used the various patterned paper all over. We covered party hats…
We backed acrylic disc’s to make a fun tablecloth
We (Well Andrea!) cut lots of butterflies out to cover the walls and windows
We covered bubble bottles and added little butterflies
Chloe put together some beautiful flower arrangements, and my mom made an elsie through the year photo set.
We made wine charms for the drink glasses – we had specialty mohito’s and sangria for the big day.
The centerpiece of the table was a 5 tiered cupcake display – on Friday my mom and I built the tiered stand using cake disc’s, cake pillars, hot glue and screws.
The birthday girl’s cupcake had a special flag
After a morning of prep we were ready to bring on the party!
We did it! Elsie turned one! I decided to cut the posts into sections so I didn’t overload you with too many photos
We were lucky to have lots of help getting ready for Elsie’s big day. My parents flew in on Thursday night and we spent Friday pulling together details and making cupcakes. Mark and my dad spent the day getting the backyard ready and doing some last minute shopping …
Friday night we spent decorating cupcakes. My mom decided to do a mix of fondant flowers with buttercream frosting – yum. She frosted all of the cupcakes and then let all of the girls help make flowers. Each cupcake was a masterpiece!
Here are some finished pans
In the morning Elsie was ready to party, she spent some time showing Heather and Finley (who flew in for the event) around the house …
She also wanted to show Finley how much fun it is to play with her elmo table
Grampa set up her new picnic table and Elsie gave it a try
After a fun morning Elsie was off for a nap to prepare for the festivities …
Elsie today wore a lovely brown and pink outfit. The skirt has built in leggings with lace trim – really rather nice and comfy.
Solved!
Elsie has a little shaker she likes to get her groove on with. Here she is working her striped pants and orange bow! It even sings in Espanol – “Azul… Naranja… Verde”
