A couple weekends ago, we went to visit my extended family in Georgia. It was a short trip, but we packed a lot of sweet memories into it.
We used little Paxton as our excuse to go this time. Sweet P is one now, and it was time to celebrate that big milestone!
Stephanie did an absolutely amazing job with everything-invitations, decorations, food, favors, etc. She did a vintage newspaper boy theme, and it was truly one of the cutest themes I've ever seen. The invitation looked like the front of a newspaper and the headline was "From Baby to Big Boy" with a picture of Paxton as both a newborn and now a "big boy" (since he's the baby of the family, I refuse to call him 'big'!) in black and white. The food was delicious and went along with the theme. She served hamburger sliders, turkey sandwiches with grape tomatoes and pickles attached on top with a toothpick, caprese salad on skewers, mac and cheese in little cups, chips in muffin cup liners, fun candy (Peeps, Hershey kisses, rock candy, Bazooka gum, Pixi sticks, etc.), cake pops, cupcakes, and cake. The best part was the punch. It was the BEST punch I've ever tasted, and it was nonalcoholic too, so children of all ages got to enjoy! I haven't gotten the recipe from her yet, but I remember her saying it had blue Kool-Aid and Bacardi pina colada frozen mix in it, as well some other stuff. It was refreshing and just flat-out yummy! To make it even cuter, she served it in mason jars. It was her attention to detail that really made the whole party incredible. For the favors, she had brown paper lunch sacks with the number one cut out of newspaper glued on the front. We got to fill our bags with all the fun candy she had. Everything was precious and fitting to the theme. The pictures don't do it justice!
While at the party, I gave Coop a Peep thinking he would love it. He threw me for a major curve ball though. The kid walked around for a long time just holding it in his mouth. He wouldn't take a bite of it, chew on it, or even take it out of his mouth! Finally, he took a bite and decided he didn't like it after all, so he handed the soggy, gooey mess back to me!
The weather was beautiful the whole weekend, and we spent a lot of time outside during our visit. Cooper is happiest when he's outside, and I think warm sunshine brings a happy smile to everyone's face!
Cooper enjoyed running wild and free, watering his GG-Mama's flowers, trying to push over her trees, and relaxing. Funny story about the trees... During our last visit Karl and Stephanie's husband were looking at some dead trees in my grandmother's yard. Karl pushed on one to see if it gave at all. Cooper saw this and has since pushed on every tree he sees. I wish pictures included sound because he grunts really hard when he pushes on the trees like he's really trying hard. It is really funny! My little muscle man!
...and the more we tried, the more he resisted!
I have always loved visiting my grandmother's house. As I took Cooper on "adventures" around her house and through her yard, I was flooded with precious memories from my childhood. I remembered what it felt like to run wild and free down her long driveway, to climb and hide behind her trees, to sit on the porch drinking a gingerale, to water and admire her flowers, to spend time with family, to eat way too much sugar, and to, well, just be a kid. As I looked at my little boy and my cousin's little boys playing in the driveway and our husbands "playing" (cutting down the dead trees--but you should have seen the joy in their eyes as they started up those chainsaws!) in the woods, my soul was filled with the same joy as it was then. I could feel the same excitement and freedom I felt then, and each time I looked at Cooper and saw his little eyes twinkling with delight, I'm pretty sure he felt it too.
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