I went down on Monday (the 13th) to spend the week helping Julie get ready for the long awaited party. It was exhausting, but oh so worth it.
On Tuesday we took Mina to have her one year pictures made. While the photographer was click, clicking I took the opportunity to take some photos of my own, because Mina was so darn cute.
Here are the best ones I got:
(Click on the photos for a larger view)
Mina's birthday was the actual day of her party, so we spent most of the morning yelling, "Happy Birthday!" at her and telling her she was one. Mostly she just looked at us like we were crazy, but when it came time to open presents she definitley got it. Girlfriend knew what to do and she was super excited. I've never seen a one year old go after presents like she did. Frank and Julie will most certainly have their handsful in the future.
The party was bumblebee themed, which I'm sure you can tell from the pictures, so I'll just let them do most of the talking for me.
Treat table
If I do say so myself, these are the prettiest cupcakes I've ever made
Popcorn balls (You're welcome, Frank)
Chocolate pops
Crafts table
Tent decor
Corsages for the grandmothers
Deviled eggs, courtesy of Aunt Amanda
Julie went above and beyond
They took turns pulling this necklace and letting it smack Julie in the face
Giada and Mommy
Frannie gets bee-dazzled
"Welcome to the hive, Buzz around back to see the queen"
This was my special project
Smash cake!
It's all in the details
Singing happy birthday
Thinking hard about digging in
What's under all this paper?
I had a hard time getting good, clear photos of Mina opening her presents. She was so excited and all over the place so most of my photos turned out to be blurry, action shots. But I did shoot a little video. Here it is.
I think everyone had a great time and I was glad to be able to help. Julie has already started planning for next year, but I made her promise to let me rest until January. ; )