Claire turns 1!

What better place to start up the blog again than with the birthday of the youngest Daems.  Can you believe that Claire Bear is one year old?  Where does the time go?

We had a backyard luau last weekend to celebrate Claire's big day, complete with a bounce house water slide (for the big kids).  The weather turned out to be decent for notoriously windy Benicia and I think that everyone really enjoyed themselves.

My good friend, Nicolene, made Claire this adorable hula girl birthday cake

Nicholas and Lexi were in awe of the bouncy as it blew up.  I quote, "Mom and Dad, you are the best...ever!"

Attention....DIGRESSION!  Since it's been a while since I blogged, you probably didn't know that Jeff and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary in July.  We've come a long way, baby!

You can see Claire's two prominent bottom teeth in this photo.  Over the past week, three have also sprouted out on the top

Lexi got air on her way down the water slide

Nicholas was cautious about the water slide.  His cast came off a few days before the party, but he was supposed to wear a brace for 2 weeks after.  The Dr. said he could take it off while swimming, but Nicholas, the consummate rule follower, was insistent it had to stay on.  He watched a lot of his friends go down the slide.

Auntie Becca, Brian, and Baba were good helpers with Claire (and Nana too!)

Lexi and her best friend, Camryn

The birthday girl took a dip in the baby pool

Jeff earned "cool Dad" points for going down the slide.  Let's just say the camera got a little wet after Jeff splash down

The big kids insisted on getting a pinata.  We let Claire have a hit because it WAS her party after all

Big sister whacked it pretty well

Come on, slugger!

The moment you wait for at a one year old birthday party!

A bit tentative at first

Starting to get into it a bit more

A pep talk from Lex

Alright, let's do this!

Yes, I LOVE cake!!  Nom, nom, nom (I'd like to say this is the first time she's tried cake, but that would be a lie.  Hey, she's a third child...don't judge!)

 

 

 

 

The kids were exhausted after all of our guests left that evening, so Claire opened presents the following morning.  And by Claire, I mean, Nicholas and Lexi.  Hey, what are older siblings for?

Bags and tissue paper are the way to go for babies...ease to open and entertaining!

Oooooh!  New shoes!  And look at the smile...a true girl!

Didn't I tell you tissue paper is entertaining?

Hmmm...a new doll

Those presents were opened in no time flat with this pit crew!

 Claire's actual birthday was this past Thursday, August 15th.  We decided to visit Daddy at work to celebrate.  I know, not that exciting you might think, but not to a 6 and 4 year old, so it was a good excuse to go.  You see, Nicholas and Lexi made a "summer fun list" in June and ranked fairly high was visiting Daddy at work.  But with the kids' various activities and Jeff's busy schedule, we hadn't found a day to drive in and summer is on its way out.  So, it was now or never.  Luckily, we chose now.

Future CEO.  "I think you should invest in...."

These two girlies are definitely the boss of their Daddy

After a beautiful lunch outside of the Ferry Building, we said goodbye to Daddy and played at a brand spanking new playground that just opened a block from his office.  This was the highlight!

Nicholas said to me later that night, "Mom, you probably wouldn't let us go to San Francisco one day JUST to go back to that playground, but it would be pretty awesome if you did."

Don't let the scowl fool ya', she loved swinging

 That night we went out to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant in Benicia.  We went to the same restaurant on the evening of Nicholas and Lexi's first birthdays, so it really was a no brainer that we HAD to go there for Claire's first birthday dinner.  Afterwards, we came home for cupcakes and called it a wrap on the last first birthday we will celebrate.