B.Y.O.K.P.

Why bring your own Kiddie Pool of course!?!?!



Keeping with the theme of the party I made this Cool Pool cake for Ella. It was so much fun to make and looks 10 times harder to create then it really was!

She's a year! It is hard to believe that it has been a year since this little lady entered our life. In other ways it feels like she has always been a part of our life. This past year has been full of good lessons, many surprises, lots of laughs, few cries, and immense joy. I can't fully express how much better life is with Ella.

With Ella we are able to experience every day things with new eyes. The simple joy of tasting new fruit, sensing new textures, and splashing in a pool have new meaning. With all of this in mind we planned her first birthday celebration.

One of Ella's favorite things to do is to swim. Thus was born the idea of the Kiddie Pool Party! With 7 kiddie pools, 1 baby sprinkler pool, 17 kids, and 26 adults we celebrated the first year of Ella's life. Untold amounts of water were pumped through the hoses and many squeals of laughter were had by kids and adults. It was by far over the top and incredible. Exactly as we wanted it. I had visions of kids jumping from one pool to another and that is what happened.

One proud papa and one happy baby!

Mommy and Ella playing together.

For her birthday Grandma and Grandpa Whitney got Ella a baby sprinkler pool. It was so cool. There was only about 2 inches of water and spouts of water going every where. There was a slide, a dolphin the babies could ride, and other toys on it. We will be using it for the rest of the summer to get out of the heat.

Birthday girl just chilling in the cool pool.

More views of the baby sprinkler pool.

The backyard was full! We couldn't fit another pool in the yard. The kids had the best time. So did the adults.

Swimming can work up a big appetite. With that in mind we prepared a feast. Ella's aunts and all grandparents contributed to the feast. Apparently our guests were hungry because there was little food left. There was a lot of swimming!

The birthday girl feasting!

For her birthday, Ella's Grandpa and Grandma Moll gave her this great picnic table with this great umbrella. We will have lots of fun in the future with this.


Below are pictures of people eating.

It was time for Ella to eat her first cake! In this picture she was more interested in trying to play with her balloon. Eventually she turned around to see her cake.

She didn't know what to think of the cake at first!

She liked the crowd though! She is such a ham.

She was more tentative with cake then I thought she would have been. I don't know that she knew it was something she could eat at first.

Finally I put some in her mouth!

That got her going...

and going...

...until we had a master piece on the tray!

Clean up at a pool party is easy. Just dunk her in the pool again!

It takes no time to get her clean.

Next it was present time. She is a well loved baby. She was given many wonderful gifts. The best gift was all the friends and family that came to the party to celebrate her first year here!

A big thanks goes to auntie Heidi, auntie Sarah, Grandma Whitney, Grandpa Whitney, Grandpa Moll, and Grandma Moll. Without you all the party would not have been the success it was. Thanks for making the day even more special and fun!