We had a crazy busy month of July! I know it is way into August now, and I haven’t even done any entries on Allie’s big day. That’s because we have been running around like crazy people! First we had an active 4th of July weekend in La Porte (Vin’s hometown) and then to Becky’s at Elkhart. And then off to New Jersey for work for a week. Then back home, and Vin’s sister Jo came to visit!
Yaya got to meet her Auntie Jo for the first time! It was the funnest time! So we hung out at home for a few days before driving everyone out to the Baltimore area for a family gathering. Unbeknownst to us, Vin’s Aunt Joan and his cousins had organized a surprise early birthday party for Allie. So on Sunday July 18th, we went to cousin Kathy’s place for a cookout and had an awesome time hanging out. Plus, there was cake and presents for Allie!
[[image:allie673a.jpg:Let them eat cake! Part 1:center:0]]
* Mouse over the pictures for captions
Here are some of the people who attended the gathering:
[[image:allie678a.jpg:Jo and Aunt Joan:center:0]]
[[image:allie679a.jpg:Barb, me, Vin, Jo and Aunt Joan:center:0]]
[[image:allie681a.jpg:Group picture of the girls:center:0]]
Unfortunately we didn’t get the guys together for a group picture. Allie refused to come into any of the group pictures. She was much too busy playing with her cousins and an added bonus of Kathy’s place: the river in the backyard (leading to the Chesapeake bay). Allie found the river irresistible. We had to forcibly bring her back to the table for cake!
[[image:allie674a.jpg:Water baby and her Papa:center:0]]
[[image:allie675a.jpg:Tiara from Aunt Joan for the almost-birthday girl:center:0]]
[[image:allie676a.jpg:Poking the cake a bit:center:0]]
[[image:allie677a.jpg:Presents! Look at all the bling!:center:0]]
Any bets on whether or not Allie ate any cake? The answer would be NO. She still refused any bit of the lovely chocolate cake we had. She did however love all her presents and sends thanks and love out to everyone! She loved having the birthday song sung to her, and she actually blew out her candle (with some help from the wind, no doubt). And presents, yay! Books, toys, tiaras and necklaces! It was a blast!
[[image:allie682a.jpg:Yay, birthdays are fun!:center:0]]
[[image:allie680a.jpg:Cousin Jack, Allie & Cousin Max:center:0]]
That picture of Allie with her cousins (Jack is a year older and Max a year younger than her) is one of my favorites! Then for the next few hours, Allie stayed in the kiddie pool that Kathy had put out for all the kids.
[[image:allie683a.jpg:Buckets, dinosaurs and tiara-ed baby in the water:center:0]]
[[image:allie684a.jpg:Papa swings by for a kiss!:center:0]]
Allie stayed in that pool until sundown, basically. Her hands and feet were most definitely in danger of being mistaken for raisins from the immersion. She had to be dragged kicking and screaming from the pool when it started getting dark.
We really had an awesome day! We sat around chit-chatting, catching up on all the gossip, and having a nice relaxing time, especially since Allie would not leave the pool, so I got to sit down and hang out with the ladies around the little pool. Allie had much too much fun with the buckets, soaking poor Jo’s feet multiple times that day! Thanks for organizing such a wonderful get-together Kathy, Liz, Aunt Joan, and everyone else!
This was only the first of Allie’s multiple birthday celebrations. Stay tuned for more cake!
To close, here is a picture of the almost-birthday girl and the guest of honor, her Auntie Jo:
[[image:allie685a.jpg:Can I go in the pool again, please?:center:0]]
