Mila's Second 2nd Birthday Party

This time last week I was gearing up for Mila's second birthday. As you know, we had already celebrated with a pool party the Saturday before in my hometown. However, our local friends and family were unable to attend so on Wednesday, July 2nd (Mila's actual birthday), we hosted a small cocktail party at our house for those who missed the big pool party.

 At school on her 2nd birthday

For the cocktail party I made some easy desserts and hors d'oeuvres, as well as some Samoa cupcakes (based off the Girl Scout cookies) for Mila to take to school and for our guests to enjoy in place of a traditional birthday cake. We reused the decorations from the pool party and dug out outfits from our closets. It was a very simple, yet impacting, party!

Overall, both of Mila's birthday parties were a huge success. I'm glad that I didn't go as crazy as the year before, but I do admit that two parties may have been more than necessary. Regardless, they were a blast--for baby and mommy!

❤A 

P.S. Mila took it upon herself to participate in the Cold Water Challenge during her second party. This resulted in me pulling her from the water and ripping off all her freezing, soaking wet clothes at lightning speed. I do not recommend this challenge for two-year-olds. With that said, she challenges Violet, Elsa, and Ariel.

Fourth of July Weekend

The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. Summer, beach, friends, picnic food, beer, fireworks, there is nothing better. I especially love this holiday with a kid. Mila thinks that the Fourth is like a beach day on steroids--which is basically dead on.

This year one of my close friends decided to get married the Monday after the Fourth of July weekend so I planned on driving home and spending the Fourth with my friends and family on the East Coast. But I'm a sucker for traditions and after vowing to our St. Pete friends that we would spend every Fourth on the beach together, last minute I chose to stay to spend the holiday with them.

One of our friends claimed our beach spot with a group of local kite boarders around 8AM. This meant we ended up with two boats, two RVs, two multi-seater rafts, a fly board, jet ski, and about a dozen kite boards and wake boards along some prime real estate on Pass-a-Grill Beach. The day started off beautiful, but eventually got pretty windy--great weather for kite boarders and perfect timing for Mila's nap.

After a three hour nap, we grilled dinner by the RV and waited for the fireworks to start. Pass-a-Grill doesn't have its own fireworks display, but being that it is the most southern beach, you can see four different shows from there without all the noise--perfect for little ears!

The next morning Mila and I hit the road for Ormond Beach. After some car trouble and rain, we finally made it there in time for dinner at Papi's house. On Sunday we hit the beach where Mila caught some bait fish in her new Catch & Release Beach Aquarium. This tickled her to death, although she was not interested in actually touching the fish--some Florida girl she is--we're working on that.

As previously mentioned, one of my good friends, Tim, decided that the Monday after Fourth of July was the right day to get married. Being one of the first in our group to get married, I felt that I couldn't miss his big day. I requested off and spent the morning witnessing Tim marry the love of his life. 

It was a beautiful, small wedding at a riverside park in our hometown. Just close family and a handful of friends attended. Lauren wore an airy, white sundress and Tim wore the ugliest UF tie I've ever seen--regardless, it was perfect. The simplicity was actually quite lovely and the lack of stress and pressure for the "perfect wedding" added to the romance of the day. After the nuptials, Tim and Lauren went to lunch with their family while our friends went out for wings and beer. Simple and perfect.

❤A

Second Birthday Photo Shoot

A couple weeks ago we met Kaitlyn Stone from Katogenic Photography at Pass-a-Grill Beach just in time for the sunset. We were nervous about the weather, as that week had been dotted with heavy rain storms, but the day of the shoot the sun was out so we anticipated a lovely sunset. In the evening, the clouds started to roll in, resulting in one of the most beautiful and fantastic sunsets we've seen in a long time. Coincidentally, a gold hue was painted across the beach, perfectly complimenting Mila's golden birthday photo shoot.

 

❤A