We celebrated Banks' First Birthday yesterday. We had a small birthday party with family. It was perfect. Not a lot of fuss and very relaxed. We topped it off with going to eat mexican afterwards with the family. Who doesn't celebrate their birthday by going to a mexican joint?
Let me introduce you to "Snoot Face". It cracks me up every time I see this little cracker jack making this expression. He's getting pretty good at doing it on command, too! As far as the hair, well, let's just say static electricity + crazy hair anyways = what you see below!
This was Banks' smash cake. I attempted to make a giraffe but it looks like a yellow pig. Either way, Banks had a terrific time putting his hands in it as did all the other kids.
Here is a picture of Mom's giraffe cake that everyone else got to eat. Much better, huh? On top of cake, we had the mandatory ice cream with a choice of juice box or beer (football was playing on the tv and you can't watch football without a beer, right?)
Rare family shot of the four of us.
Birthday song time- that's Bryce (Kent's daughter) in the background.
MMMMMMM, that's good!
We had party hats that the kids could decorate. I took the liberty of decorating Banks' hat but he refused to wear it. This was a very tricky picture to take - a lot of counting and sneaky hat movement!
Present time! Banks got some great presents. David and I along with David's parents and grandmother are giving the boys (Hughes and Banks) a swingset. It is our plan to have this swingset up by Hughes' party on the 4th of October. This is David's job as I will have the boys in Auburn for the next two weekends brainwashing them to love Auburn more than Clemson. If any reading this is so inclined to help put the swingset together, please call David. He is going to need it! Along with the swingset, Banks got a plush book from Wyatt that has pictures of him from this past year, his first CAT dumptruck from Conley, snack turtle from Bryce and Lucius, circus train from Anna Banks and Emma, silver cup from Virginia and Center (godparents), money towards a travel DVD player from Mom, Dad, MaeMae & Tony. I think I covered everything. Banks and Hughes are enjoying all the above gifts!
Well, the party is over and I'm still recovering. David and I vegged out on the couch last night and watched Auburn play poorly against MSU - they got the "w" but they surely didn't look good. It made me very nervous for the next two games: LSU and Tenn. The boys and I are leaving on Friday to go to Auburn. From there, we heading down to the Gulf with Mom and Dad in the RV and then heading back to Auburn for the Tenn game where David is going to meet us.
When we got home last night, Hughes immediately noticed the swingset in the backyard. He was amazed and totally thrilled. He kept saying "c'mon, c'mon". We all had to slide and swing. Banks thoroughly enjoyed swinging on David's lap and thought it was hysterical that I was swinging. I will say that this is going to be a fabulous investment. And notice the handy craftmanship - all David. It only took him 12 hours and 7 beers.
Here are a few pics of David entertaining Banks. You gotta love the swim diaper on the head. That entertained him for at least 10 minutes. Then, David decided to start working on Banks' throwing arm - gotta get him ready to take Cody Burns' spot!
On Friday, me and the boys piddled around Auburn. We had to stop for the photo op with the two tigers. Hughes was a little scared at first but after he touched them he realized they weren't real. We visited with the tigers for about 45 minutes.
Hughes showing Banks how to dig.
Hughes catching some rays.
While in Gulf Shores with Mom and Dad, we had the most fun. First of all, we ate out lunch everyday - my favorite thing to do! One of the places we went to was LuLu's (which is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister). They have this great restaurant on the Intercoastal Waterway and a huge sandy area with tons of sand toys. Hughes loved it and we could see him from where we sat to eat. Banks decided to start walking at the beach. He gets so tickled with himself when he does it - his laugh cracks me up. Also, because we were there in September there were no other kids to share the toys with so Hughes got the run of the place.
I've decided that the end of September is the best time to go to the beach - no one is there and the weather is beautiful! While we were there, the city was working our renourishing the beaches which meant lots of dump trucks and bulldozers and tons of sand piled high - Hughes was in hog heaven. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with the equipment in the background so you'll just have to believe me.
Banks wondering where his book is? Banks also loves books and is actually pretty good at turning the pages and looking himself. Of course, we only give him board books for now.
