Dresden did amazingly on the flight out - we were pleasantly surprised. He sat in his carseat the whole time and just looked curiously around and out the window, only once asking to get "out?!" He was a trooper, and so excited to go on "a BIG plane!"
Waiting for the flght
Making a little friend, Liam.
Poor Liam, Dresden would NOT stop hugging the poor kid.
Poor Liam, Dresden would NOT stop hugging the poor kid.
It was super-cute, but Liam had enough quite early on.
It was a lonnnng wait for the flight.
It was a lonnnng wait for the flight.
Our smiley little traveler in his window seat
Two flights in two years...
Saturday was the day of the party, and I couldn't have done the set up and preparation without the tremendous help of Laura and Stephanie - thank you ladies!!! After eating an AMAAAA-ZING breakfast at Snooze (which we only waited an hour for, thank you!) we went and picked up food for the picnic, and the cake from a bakery called Gateaux, which turned out fabulously!
Then, it was time to party!!! I LOVED watching Dresden with his Grandma and Grandpa, and all his uncles and aunts ("great" and "regular"). He had so much fun, and the party was a definite success. It was a beautiful, sunny Colorado day, there was a nice playground to take Dresden to, and we all got to sit in the shade and visit. Can't get much better than that!
Dresden with Aunt Mary Lynn on the play ground
Smiley Birthday Boy
On the merry-go-round (while Alex tried not to get sick taking pictures on the merry-go-round, too!)
Dresden and Grandpa
Wearing Grandpa's hat
Grandpa, Dresden and Grandma - I love this picture!
Dresden and Uncle Jonny
The fam playing at the park
"Lead the way, Dresden!"
His first time holding a frisbee!
Getting some frisbee-throwing pointers from Grandma and Grandpa
Atta boy!
Action shot!
Showing Uncle Jonny how it's done...hehe
The delicious cake from Gateaux -
raspberry and white chocolate mousse filling, yum!
The Birthday Boy and his cake
His first time flying a kite - thank you, Grandpa!
Uncle Spencer doing tai chi in the background - love it!
Steph, Dresden, Grandpa and Uncle Kenny in the kite zone!
Sweet boy loved flying this kite!
His grandpa gave him the kite string and he said "Bye!"...
And this is what happened...(but Jon saved the day and got it down, phew!)
Dresden and his twin-uncles
(at one point I think he realized they looked alike
and got a little confused about who was who, hehe)
Time for presents!
Alphie the robot from Aunt Mary Lynn and Uncle Kenny!
Grandma and Dresden opening presents!
Grandpa showing Dresden how to work his new Lightning McQueen car!
Some of the party guests and Dresden's aunts and uncles (minus Nick :-( );
Tracy, Sarah, Spencer and Jon
Playing with Holly and Lightning from Grandma and Grandpa
Reading his new Trains book from Aunt Laura and Uncle Nick
A boat and a sea-plane made from recycled plastic (so cool!) from Uncle Spencer and Aunt Tracy!
And...PLAY DOUGH from them, too!!!
A GloDoodle from Uncle Jonny!
Giving him a sweet hug and saying "thank you"
"Aunt Nina" (Stephanie) helping Dresden open her gifts - a dinosaur puzzle and dinosaur feltboard!
Swinging with Grandma and Grandpa
"High five, Grandma!"
Jon and Tracy wanted turns on the merry-go-round!
Playing horsey with Grandpa to finish out the party!
We stayed at the pavilion until about 5:30, and then all met at Spencer and Tracy's to go to dinner after. At their house, we went down to their basement because Dresden wanted to see Aunt Tracy's two bins full of worms!!! It was so cool, just watching him be so quiet and still while she showed him where the worms were in the dirt. He even held some on his palm and was so brave and good about the whole thing. That was definitely a sweet moment for me.
I feel bad that we didn't get more pictures of Dresden interacting with everyone at the party, and we didn't have any "set" shots of Dresden with each member of the family. I'm kind of hoping there may be some on other people's cameras to add. Even if not, I consider it a sure sign of success that everyone was way too busy having fun and visiting that pictures were secondary to just being together. As much as I love having Alex shoot memories, I love knowing that we were creating so many there was just no way to capture them all!
Once again, Dresden was completely exhausted that night after such a fun day, and fell asleep as soon as we got in the car. The next morning, we got to have breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa so they could spend a little more time with their grandson before we had to fly out. The whole LaFasto clan was going rafting and met at our hotel, so we were lucky to say one last goodbye to everyone before they headed out.
Dresden by this time was I think beyond worn out from all the excitement and did not do so well on our flight home. Neither did I, as it was REALLY rough and turbulent, so I don't blame him. His poor little ears were hurting him on this leg, too. But all in all he did wonderfully, and he's already acting more grown-up just having been two for four days now. He is even talking in more complete phrases and sentences from being around everyone over the weekend. It is so cool to see!
Well, that wraps up Part II! Part III will happen this weekend when we head to Arkansas to see the rest of the fam!
I salute those of you who made it to the end here, lol!
Love,
Cassie
Sounds like you had an amazing trip! It is so good to spend time with family. Looks like Dresden's parties were all a huge success. The cake sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Emily! We did have a really great trip. And the cake was every bit as amazing as it sounds, hehe :-)
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