Hilton Head Weekend

Before too much time goes by, I wanted to post some of my favorite photos from our weekend in Hilton Head.  We went primarily to celebrate Sophie's birthday.  

{A live starfish.  No worries....we put her right back in the water.}

{These wine charms were in the townhome we rented for the weekend.  Aren't they SO ME?}

{Our patio had lots of lizards.  A big hit with the girls!}

{My mom was able to join us for the weekend. I managed to get an action shot while she played with Clara at the pool.}

{An extremely rare family shot.  On my favorite beach at sunset.  Thanks, Mom!}

{After blowing out the EIGHT! candles on her birthday cake, Sophie asked me to take this photo of her.}

Alain & I took Sophie kayaking for the first time as one of her birthday presents.  It was so great and we got to see dolphins (we were really hoping for this)!  I lucked out and came within about ten feet of two who were swimming close by.  One tilted his head up out of the water to look at me and we locked eyes for a moment.  You know what that is?  PURE MAGIC. It's the second time in my life that's happened and, I'm telling you, there really isn't much else like it. He wasn't a tortured dolphin locked up in a tank that I had to pay money to swim with and touch.  He was wild and free and perfect.  I know it was a 'he' because our guide told us.  He's been living in that particular area for at least twenty years.  The people who work for the kayaking company see him almost every day. The kayaking may have been Sophie's present but I left feeling like it was mine as well.   

Reflections on Clara's 3rd Birthday

 Before too much time goes by, I wanted to capture some of my favorite details from Clara's tiny little birthday celebration.  My general rule for birthday parties is to invite the number of children equivalent to my child's age plus one (I've only broken this rule once and boy do I ever regret that ~ it was a DISASTER!).  So Clara had four friends over along with my parents, my cousin and her boyfriend.

In the past, I've thrown down plenty of time and money on the birthday cake.  We've had some stunning cakes over the years (mostly, thanks to my talented friend, Elizabeth!).  This year, because Clara is on a gluten-free (GF) diet, I purchased some GF cupcakes from Trader Joe's (quite good, I might add!).  Yet Clara kept mentioning that she really wanted a cake.  I headed out to the grocery, picked up some GF cake mix and baked a simple cake.  Since I'm a rookie GF Mom, I had no idea that a $5-6 box of cake mix only makes one level (just in case you're wondering why my cake if so short!).  The very day before the party I saw this pin and couldn't get it out of my head.  I raided the girls' massive animal collection, chose a few friends and created the below.  And, I'm not even lying to you, it is my favorite cake we've ever had. I love the whimsy, imagination, sweetness and childhood magic of this cake. Alain and my Dad know how much time I spent laboring over those miniature party hats..... and I'm telling you, it was worth EVERY second.  They were a BIG HIT!

Each year I try to incorporate some birthday wrapping paper that I saved from Tio Iggy's last birthday present.  Last year I was able to wrap a couple of presents in it.  This year a small scrap made up the chimpanzee's party hat!

  

Mom & Dad blew up all the balloons, around 30 of them in all.  Thank you, Mom & Dad!

Clara's Abu and Nonno Carlo sent this lovely dress from Switzerland.  It is so adorable and was perfect for the party!

The little message board got filled during the party and I've saved all the notes for Clara to read when she gets bigger.

The party was held at brunch time so we had bagels and bubblies.

There was no theme for the party but a strong color theme and loads of yarn pom poms.  I LOVED making the pom poms (use this tool if you ever need to make them ~ it's AWESOME!).  They appeared on the favor boxes, on flower vases and in various other places around the party.

When I sent Alain out to buy champagne, he found this one.  Couldn't be any more perfect!

We had frozen blueberries to keep our drinks cold.....a tip I picked up from a club in New York City!

  

As I looked back at the photos of Clara unwrapping her presents, I was overcome by how much she has my mannerisms.  Considering the amount of time we spend together, it's not surprising.  Still, it warms my heart.  (Have I mentioned lately how happy I am to have daughters?)

Big Sis was just as excited about all the presents as Clara!

  

Alain and I gave Clara this tiny little bike as our main gift.  She'd been asking for a bike with training wheels for many months.  Well, she was ecstatic and has probably taken a ride on it every day since.

All in all it was a beautiful day/party.  There's no question that Clara enjoyed it immensely! 

A Big Thanks to Mom & Dad, as always, for making the drive and helping out with all the party prep!

Three

Happy, Happy Birthday to my sweet, darling baby girl!  I cannot believe you're already three years old.  You continue to be our sunshine because you brighten our lives with your silly little songs, your keen sense of humor, your zest for life and those big, gorgeous, brown eyes.  Being your Mommy is truly a gift and I thank you for being such a dream come true!  

Happy 3rd Birthday, ClaraLu!

XOXOXO

(What a difference a year makes!)

S-E-V-E-N

You are my sunshine, 

My only sunshine.

You make me happy

When skies are grey.

My dearest Sophie, 

You ARE my sunshine.

You're also my rainstorm, my white fluffy cloud, my morning dew, my night sky, my galloping pony, my big meadow, my shady forest, my rainbow, my spotted fawn, my wild flower, my quiet snow, my robin's egg, my dotted ladybug, my sweet breeze, my Monarch butterfly, my honeybee, my birdsong, and, of course, my Goose. 

I love you with all of my heart. 

Happy Birthday!

Recollections of Clara's 2nd Birthday

Because I want to remember....

....the GORGEOUS gift wrap that I picked out especially for Clara's birthday presents (yes, I do serious searching for the perfect wrap for each of my girls' birthdays!).

.....just how much Clara loves cupcakes!

(Whew, this photo, I die!)

.....how sweet and excited she is when she unwraps presents.

.....how much she loves wearing her bathing suit.  Or, as she says, "babing suit".

.....how much I LOVED the little cupcake flags I made for her small party.  And how Sophie said that was her favorite part of the birthday celebration!  She insisted that she get to pick out the cupcake flag that Clara would get ~ the one with the wide flower ribbon.  Such a sweet big sister!

.....how crafty I felt leading up to her birthday and how excited I was to make these things for her.  She may not remember all of this but she'll see these pictures when she gets bigger!  (And, Sophie will remember!)

.....how much I love this wreath I made for Clara, which I intend to hang in her bedroom.

....how delicious those cupcakes were (from Trader Joe's!)?

....and, how Clara gave us such a funny look when we sang Happy Birthday to her, that I laughed and blew out the candle myself.  I had to relight it and then let her blow it out!

.....and, even though I don't have a photo, how our nephews, Benjamin and Mimi, sang Happy Birthday with us via Skype!  Seriously, that made us all so happy!

.....how much I enjoyed going back through the last two years of photos to choose the ones for her birthday collage.

.....how girly and rustic everything was!

.....how Clara would scream out "cake, cupcake, hearts" each time she saw the little cocktail napkins!

 

.....how I got to use one of my favorite antiques.  The phone number for the farm is so old that it's only 5 digits!

.....how much my sweet grandmother loved the strawberry/pistachio bark.  No matter how small the party, I go all out. I made the bark simply because I knew it would look great with the rest of my party decor.  The funny thing is that I don't even like white chocolate!  But I thought it looked great, especially in the little antique candy jar.

.....the beautiful, gorgeous, colorful, amazing dress that Clara wore for her party (consignment, of course!). "Butta-fly, butta-fly", Clara would respond when I asked what was on her dress.

..... and, last but most definitely not least!, how my sweet, gorgeous, lovable Hubbell was still around to celebrate with us and how he wanted to get in on the action of opening presents  (I HAD to include this picture!)!

A Birthday to Remember

This year we gave Sophie a choice ~ to celebrate her birthday at the beach or to have a party.  Before we could even finish the question, she was shouting, "BEACH, BEACH, BEACH".  As much I love planning and throwing parties, I think she made the right choice.....

After spending the morning at the pool, we ate lunch and then enjoyed some birthday cake, a delicious fruit tart from Fresh Market.

Sophie has always loved Playmobil and this was our gift for her.

She wanted to play with it immediately so I set it up out on the balcony.....away from Clara's busy hands and where some spilled water wouldn't be a big deal.

She wanted to stay out there playing for hours.

Clara banged on the sliding door for at least half an hour until you could barely see through the glass.

After a DELICIOUS dinner, I thought it would be nice to go for a sunset walk on the beach.

We encountered many, many horseshoe crab shells that had washed up on shore. This one (above on the left) was the biggest I've ever seen.  Those are Sophie's feet above to give you some idea of the size.

Soph and Clara tried hard to pose for a nice photo together.  I think this was the best shot we got.

We had an awesome time watching the many, many pelicans that were diving for fish.

Sophie made many sand drawings......

....so we decided to have a little fun. 

  

It was the most beautiful night.

Happy 6th Birthday, Sophie!