Happy 1st Birthday

Surf's Up Dude!!!

This was the theme of Liam's first birthday party.  It fit him well with his wild crazy hair. Unfortunately, his hair couldn't wait on his party and we had to cut it before the big day.

The morning of his FIRST BIRTHDAY.

He woke up to a crib full of balloons!

A yummy breakfast for the birthday boy!

We had a great time celebrating our baby boy! Grandma and Uncle Jeff came into town for the big occasion.  We were lucky to see all his aunts and uncles a few weeks before his birthday.  Since I knew everyone wouldn't be able to make it I had them write a special message to Liam in his birthday book.

The surfer theme included some yummy cupcakes and cake made by Aunt Kay. Thanks to her and Pinterest this party was so cute!

We had surf boards, a special "Liam's Lagoon" drink, homemade tye dye shirts, and fun blue decorations throughout. Here are some the details.

It was so fun celebrating with everyone. Liam's friends Craig and Ava came over to help him celebrate.  Along with Lane and Grant too! He got a lot of fun toys.  Some of the favorites included his glow worm, a hammer set, balls, and a doctor kit.  He still plays with all of these 2 months later.

 Eye rub caught on camera.  Too bad he didn't sleep at all this day. He was such a trooper.  Liam didn't want to miss out on any of the FUN! 

Liam was definitely interested in his cake.  It was so pretty! The icing was a little bit too hard, so we had to dig past it for him.

Even some of our friends made the trip to help Liam celebrate.  We had the Crawfords and Sauve's come from Charlotte.  And Kelly and James stopped by on their way to Florida.  It was perfect timing. 

Happy birthday sweet boy! We love you so. This year has been exhausting and one of the best years of our lives. XoXo Mommy and Daddy

Life's a Zoo

Almost SIX months ago (so embarrassing I'm so late) we went to the zoo. I wanted to do something special to celebrate Mother's Day, and it was a special day indeed!

Liam loves animals. He loves looking at them in books, barking at random dogs we see on our walks, and trying to imitate the sounds we make. 

Here are a few pictures from our zoo trip. Yes - way back in May! He really enjoyed the monkeys, because he could get up close and personal with them.

Over the summer I heard a lot about "Aloha Safari Zoo" in Cameron, NC. I was dying to try it out and I'm so glad we did.  We had the BEST time. We went here in July and I can't wait to make this a tradition in our family. If you have ever seen the movie, "We Bought a Zoo" it's a lot like that. This guy started the zoo when he was 19 years old.  Move forward 30 years later and he opens a zoo. The zoo has only been open to the public for 4 years.  It is super small and so so friendly.  The owner lives on the property with his family. His parents and sister live there as well. Their main purpose is to rehabilitate animals. Some animals will live there forever and some will just live there a few months while they are being taken care of.

While there we got to see a 13 week old tiger.  This tiger LIVES in their house.  It's nuts! We walked around the property feeding goats, watched the baby tiger for a little while, pet an alligator, and then went on a safari ride.  This was about an hour wait but so worth it! The ride took us all around the property.  Each family got a bag of bread to throw to the animals along the way.  The animals came super close.  It was really neat to see.

The Safari ride wait was HOT HOT HOT! But it was so worth it.

Liam was being a really good listener on the ride. 

Afterwards we walked around to look at the animals in their cages.  As soon as Liam saw the bear he started growling at him. This kid LOVES animals.  He honestly has no fear of them, which makes me a little nervous.

We can't wait to go back!