My 1st Birthday Party

My first birthday party was a blast! It was fun to have (almost) all my family in the same place all at once. Grandma Julie took a nice picture of Daddy's family.

And then Uncle G took a picture of Mama's family.

I spent some time playing on my new giant tortoise.

The living room was packed when it was time for presents.
My cousins opened my gifts for me, and I played with the tissue paper.

Then we played with my new toys.

Everybody gathered around on the deck and sang "Happy Birthday" to me.
Then the big people ate birthday cupcakes and Mama and I had
soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free birthday cake.
It said "Elsie" because it was for me.

It was okay, but rather sweet for my liking.
I dropped most of it on the deck for the ants.

Later on, Daddy and his family decided to play croquet.
There was a lot of discussion about rules.

I tried to help Daddy get his ball in the little hoop, but he said that was cheating.

So instead I just played with the extra balls by myself.
Seemed like a silly kind of game, anyway!

All in all, it was a great first birthday.
Thanks to all my family who made the long trip to celebrate with me
(and Uncle G and Kristen, too, who didn't make a long trip
but who I was thrilled to have at my party)!

I am already excited for next year's party-
Uncle Will said we will be playing full-contact football
to celebrate me turning 2!
Hope you can make it!