Monkeys at the Zoo

On Eddie's first birthday, we took him to the zoo. It seemed fitting to make another family trip....until we looked at the weather and saw it was going to be hot. As in, 100 degrees. Blech! Thankfully we got there early and hung on as long as we could...thank God we are members which means we can go into all of the air conditioned areas for free!

{sunscreen hair do's are my fav}

{eddie and abby the ostrich}

{finn's first time seeing the giraffes. IT WAS AWESOME}

{blown out, but i love it. the boys watching the giraffes}

{yay!! the polar bear was swimming! he put on quite the show}

{right in front of the boys}

{check out finney looking up at him!}

{one. it's very serious business.}

{brother love}

{dolphin show!}

{stinky running around the porch of the house in the hamill family play zoo}

{the brother zoo keeper team}

{yes, eddie still loves painting his face, and yes, i still let him do it on his own}

{love my big one year old munchkin!!}

{and of course, we end with a spin on the merry go round}

{finney loved his giraffe! he sat nicely and even danced to the music the whole time}

All in all, it was a great day! I still can't believe my baby is one. Of course, I couldn't deny it for long...

{7:34. exactly one year ago finnegan matthew came into the world!}

{and oops, I woke him up. Thankfully he had just gone down to bed so my waking him didn't cause too much damage}

Thankfully, I didn't have much time to dwell on the meaning of that evening, to remember the sequence of events that followed...keith and erin came over with some wine and beer and we instead spent the evening laughing, cheering on olympians and bickering like always :) I love that our friends can sense when distractions are needed! 

Pin It!

Pinterest totally failed me when I was looking for inspiration for our field day party, hopefully this helps anyone else looking for inspiration. Full blog post here. 

Field Day!

We had a this weekend blast at Field Day 2012 celebrating Eddie's 4th birthday and Finn's 1st birthday!    The bounce house was a hit, the balloon arch didn't end up completely popped at the end of our windy day and the adult only tug-o-war was the best idea EVER! Of course Finn had a blast smashing into his "cake" and Eddie gobbled his up with a shovel. Literally. Confused? Allow me to elaborate....


When trying to come up with what I wanted to do for the boys' birthday, I had a few criteria....it had to be 1) fun for lots of ages 2) have lots of DIY elements and 3) take place in my parents huge side yard. Eddie loves all things games and races, and I figured he would have a blast with the "old school" games that we all love...potato sack races and such. Good thing I was right! Coloring for this party was simple too, as I just went with primary colors. Invites were DIY (cardstock in primary colors with a white overlay, printed at home), along with the games like our bozo buckets and ring toss (embrodery hoops and beer bottles!). Other games were easy...potato sack races like I mentioned, the 3 legged race, tug-o-war and a balloon toss. The bounce house was our biggest splurge, but it was well worth it! Eddie lived in the thing. We also had a bigger baby pool that worked as the adorable "baby bounce house" for Finney and his little buds :)

(get ready for major picture overload!)

{so proud of my cute and simple invites!}

{eddie says "WOOOHOOO!!!"}

{ready to play....or just splash in the colored water}

{yes, we had a schedule...no one was surprised}

{mini "fields" on the tables, pendant flags, and lots of tape to keep 'em down in the wind}

{ready to play!}

{ring toss with balloon arch peeking through}

{bozo buckets...i had a ball that matched the colors, easy peasy!}

{big bounce house and baby bounce house}

{eddie's hideout for the day}

{finney's version}

{ready for his turn!}

{obviously a hula hoop master}

{time to play!}

{ready to go}

{they're all so serious, lol}

{no...of course i didn't play the games :)}

{time for the 3 legged race}

{ah! we're down! look at Aunt Lorrie laughing at us. She was such a pro, she and Ellie and Hudson did it all together!}

{water balloon toss!}

{aw, Ellie and Brad!}

{blake and amber working together}

{kids tug-o-war, with the adults only helping....a little. lol} 

{then all the boys got into it}

{while the women watched and laughed}

Phew. Apparently I took a picture break during dinner. We had the typical fried chicken and salads, watermelon, etc. It was great! 

{Jen made awesome dirt cake for dessert}

{and this giant one for Finney}

{and an even bigger one for eddie!}

{eddie's sparkler candle during his happy birthday song}

{finn's turn}

{....and the cookie topping set fire. lol!}

{oh, eddie enjoyed his. a lot. }

{dirt mouth kisses for Jen! obviously the best thank you}

{finn started out okay enough}

{and then got a little loco}

{oh my}

{yup. thats exactly how momma feels, too}

{ah! slippery baby!}

{look, ma! i can paint!}

{one last turn in the bounce house}

 We had such a fun day and couldn't have done it without our awesome friends and family. From my parents letting us literally take over, to Jen helping with everything from set up to desserts and helping bathe Finn, everyone who helped with clean up and everyone who had fun and played with us, the whole day was awesome. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people around to help us celebrate our boys.

{the party is done! let's play pop the balloon arch....or just run away terrified. you chose :)}