Lizard Hunter

One of my favorite memories of spending summers at my grandparent's house is hunting for lizards.  In Florida, lizards are everywhere and as kids we'd spend hours in the backyard "hunting" them.  I remember one year I got really lucky and caught a tiny frog, too.  Good times.

While in Florida, my brother and sister kept the tradition alive took Owen lizard hunting. He LOVED it.  When they caught a lizard, my brother let Owen hold it and he did NOT want to let that thing go!  He was so proud of his lizard and held it for at least ten minutes straight.  A couple of times the lizard got away, but they caught him again. (It wasn't a very fast lizard.)  Here are some pics of Owen proudly holding his lizard.

Photo Shoot: Take 2

Remember this post when I attempted to be a professional photographer in my grandparent's backyard?

Well.... with my trusty new camera in hand, I was determined to take new photos in the same picture spots.  However, it is WAY harder to photograph an almost 2 year old than it is to photograph an almost 1 year old.

So... many of the pictures are of the back of Owen's head or of Owen looking down at the ground.  And he wasn't in a very smiley mood.... But I think I managed to get a few decent shots.

 Look at the difference 1 year makes!!

There is beauty all around...

My grandparents have the most beautiful backyard.

Don't you wish you had that view from your kitchen window?  I sure do.

Slumber Party

So..... back to our Florida trip.  :)

Imagine fitting 12 people - my mom, siblings + spouses -  in a 2 bdrm condo.  

As you can imagine, the sleeping arrangements were very cozy and we all got to know each other a lot better.  :)  In all seriousness, we had a LOT of fun.  Owen especially loved all of the air mattresses on the floor and loved visiting all of his aunts and uncles in their beds.  Here are a few pictures of Owen having fun.

Owen and "Elle"

(Notice the tile kitchen floor above their heads.  This bed was on the dining room floor.)

Owen and "Ike-uhl"

Party Time

 Last Sunday we had our family come over for a little dinner birthday celebration.  In an effort to make things festive, I took Owen to the store and walked down the party plate aisle.  My plan was to let him pick which theme he wanted to do, thinking that he'd pick Toy Story because he loves Buzz Lightyear.  However, there happened to be Star Wars theme plates and he totally picked those as his favorites!! 

But... they were ugly and didn't have much color.  The Toy Story ones were much cuter.  I figured this is the last year I can get away with picking his birthday party theme, so we went with Toy Story. 

Do you remember the fabulous cake that Rick made last year?  Well, this year he totally outdid himself!  We had a lot of fun celebrating with everyone.  Till next year...

Alien Cake

Seriously... does anyone need a character birthday cake?  Rick is out for hire!  :)

Yummy Food

 

Opening presents

And what party would be complete without playing in the 

kitchen sink while wearing your new Batman pajamas?

08.21.10

Yes, this is late, and most people who read this will probably find it boring, but I want to document what we did to celebrate Owen's birthday.  Our little family of three got to spend the whole day together and we had a lot of fun. 

We started the day by taking Owen to our favorite little bakery  and let him pick out a birthday cupcake.  Naturally, Rick and I were feeling left out, so we each picked out a cupcake, too.  Seriously, don't get me started on these cupcakes.... they are DE-Lish!  I haven't tried a flavor that I didn't like.

Vanilla, Cookies 'n Cream, Strawberry Cream Cheese

After smelling the cupcakes all the way home in the car, we couldn't wait to eat them.  So, yes, we had birthday cake at about 10:30 a.m.  And it was wonderful.

After cake, it was time to open presents! 

 

After opening presents, it was PLAYTIME!

Can you tell that Rick picked out Owen's gifts?

The afternoon was spent napping and resting up for an evening of fun! We decided to go to Downtown Disney and walk through all of the shops.  At the Lego store, Owen got to see one of his favorite characters - Darth Vader.  We spent a long time looking at him.  

We also stopped at Build-a-Bear and Owen absolutely LOVED it.  We had some birthday money from Great-Grandma and Papa Harvey and since Owen was very excited about the "a-mulls" (animals), we let him build one to take home.  Thank you, GiGi and Papa!  Owen loves his new dog, which he named "Puppy".  It's on the birth certificate and everything. 

We finished the evening by eating a dinner of Jamba Juice and Wetzel's Pretzels (So nutritious, I know) and listening to the musicians play on the street.  It was the perfect day!