Nolan's Birthday...Take 2

Now it was time for Nolan's friend party.  The problem is we are so busy this time of year finding a day to do said party is next to impossible.  Except when you have a random Friday off of school!  So we had some of his school buddies over for the day to hang out and play "Minute to Win It" games.  Not gonna lie, I think they were a hit.  I had actually put these games together for a work conference that I was doing and thought hey 10 year old boys will like this just as much as the old folks.  And I was right.  I think they might have actually been better at the games too, but I'll keep that information to myself.

Nolan's Birthday...Take 1

Although we had a big birthday this year to celebrate (see previous post), we also had a big 10 year old to celebrate as well!  And we could not let this occasion go by unnoticed.  Nolan actually had 2 parties this year, one with the family and one with some school friends.  This year for his family party we decided to add a little flare and do some gambling.  I mean who doesn't gamble at a 10 year old's birthday party am I right?  This is the "horserace game" and if you don't have it, you probably should.  It's super fun, and easy for multiple people to play.  And when I say easy I mean I can play without paying attention at all, which is my kind of game.  I think on this particular day the two big winners were Reid and Bennett.  So the birthday boy had to settle for all kinds of other presents while the other two kids rolled around in their coin winnings.  Darn.

Buggy Baby

I'd love to tell you the story behind this buggy, but I'm not sure anyone really knows the story.  It came from my Grandma's basement.  But I don't know if it was actually used for my Mom when she was a baby, or if my Mom used it for her baby dolls, or if my Grandma picked it up at an auction (which she frequented often).  Nonetheless, it's precious and it meant enough to my Grandma to keep it around for years so that warranted a photo session with her only Great Granddaughter that she unfortunately never got to meet.  And I cannot lie, one of the pictures is my absolute favorite picture of Everly to date.  So everybody wins in this scenario!  Thank you Grandma Snyder for finding beauty in so many things...and holding on to those things!

Everly's Adventures in "One"derland

The princess is 1! O-N-E! How how how is that possible?  It's taken me a year to right this post because I'm in disbelief (or just really behind in life).  I decided for her first birthday I would go all out so we had a SUPER girly party, and I mean SUPER girly.  We are talking Alice in Wonderland themed Tea Party here folks.  It doesn't get much better than that!  If I'm being honest I think Everly was just pumped about having more cake, but she will obviously look back on these pictures and appreciate ALL the details.  Right? Right.    

 

Cake Smash

Cake Smashes might be my favorite thing to photograph in the history of ever.  And it's even more exciting when it's my own kiddo, I can't lie :).  Everly did not shy away from the cake and only got mad when we told her we were going to take it away, shocker.  A special shout out to my friend Michelle for being the most excellent assistant on this particular day and making sure we cleaned the scene of the crime up (to the greatest extent possible with wet wipes) as to not get in trouble by the park police!  We totally deserved those boozy shakes we got as our reward.  Yes in case you were wondering, it's not just your subjects you have to bribe.  You also need to bribe your assistants.

I'll start with some "before" pictures of Everly all fresh and clean prior to the smash.  Sorry for the picture overload but one cannot choose when they are all oh so cute!