SHE'S ONE!!!!

Yes, I am so late telling about Elle's wonderful first birthday. We're making her one year video like we did for Ryn, so that will be posted here soon. But until then, I just wanted to record for her, for myself, and for anyone else who's interested the fun we had on her day, May 29. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth even more--so I'm using a lot here. When she woke up, she went right to Carma, who took off her pj's and helped her into her fluffy pettiskirt (from Michelle) and a cute pink ribbon around her little head. Then Elle helped us decorate herself, as well as the light in the kitchen, with streamers and more ribbons.

When the kitchen was sufficiently clothed with birthday cheer, Elle settled in for a delicious bowl of birthday oatmeal (her favorite breakfast) with Carma.

We all got dressed--no, we didn't take Elle out in her breakfast attire :)--and Kev, Ryn, Elle and I hit the road for a birthday full of animal and outdoor fun. First stop: Cabela's. Yes, it's an outdoor/sporting goods store, but it is AMAZING! They have huge displays of stuffed (taxidermy-stuffed polar bear, brown and black bear, mousse, mountain lion, zebra, lion, impala, etc, etc, etc!) animals and aquariums with hundreds of live fish, all able to be enjoyed for free! Both girls absolutely loved it, even though Elle got a little scared of the fish when she was too close to the glass.

Next stop: Thanksgiving Point's Farm. This place had everything and more that you could want in a semi-petting zoo: fluffy yellow chicks, llamas, sheep, horses, cows, chickens, peacocks, and pony rides. They even had a miniature frontier street with a few child-sized buildings including a jail and MISS KITTY'S Dance Hall :). Again, the girls had a blast and so did we! It's amazing how much fun things are when you get to see them through your children's eyes.

After all of this, we came home to a great dinner, presents, and a double chocolate birthday cake for Elle. One special part of the day was having my Grandma Turtle, via webcam, singing and watching with us as Elle 'blew out' her candle and destroyed her cake. That video will be part of the one year video, so I won't repeat it here. The day was perfect and wonderful in every way. Just like Elle.