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| Alina's first birthday - under the sea party! |
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| Her under the sea dessert table and party food |
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| Yummy pearly bite clam cookies |
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| The girls loved the watermelon shark and pb&j sushi |
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| Her adorable sandcastle birthday cake |
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| Posing in her blue under the sea party paradise :) |
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| Mommy and the happy little birthday girl! |
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| Giggling and playing, she's so cute |
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| Her under the sea chalk art party guests |
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| Birthday doll Alina and some of the little partiers |
We celebrated baby Alina's big first birthday, on August 11th, 2012, with a wonderfully fun under-the-sea themed party. I had the best time planning her party, and really enjoyed working with the ocean theme. Mommy and grandma handmade her a cute sand dollar birthday banner complete with adorable mermaids, and there were plenty of sea themed balloons and decorations to effectively transform our home into a serene blue oceanic paradise. There are so many clever ideas out there, many of which ended up gracing the birthday girl's food and dessert table. She had peanut butter and jelly sushi, bell pepper octopuses, pearly bites/clam cookies, turkey and cheese sushi wraps, a goldfish bar, shrimp cocktails, buried treasure, starfish sweets, a fearsome watermelon shark, and her own super cool sandcastle cake, which was delicious.
As usual, little Alina was an absolute doll the entire day. She looked so cute dressed in her blue summer dress, walking around and playing with her party guests. Despite missing her afternoon nap, she was such a trooper and only put up a fuss when we tried to put her in her high chair to eat her smash cake (daddy's arms calmed the storm). It was so much fun to watch her reaction to everyone singing her "happy birthday", she beamed proudly and clapped along to the beat. She had no qualms about getting messy and dug right into her mini sandcastle smash cake. There were colorful chocolate starfish and seashells adorning her cake, and the chocolate starfish she ate turned her mouth a bright shade of pink. She was absolutely precious to watch.
Alina was spoiled by all her friends and family. She got plenty of clothes, books, toys and her very own ball pit from mommy and daddy. She had a fantastic time. It's hard to believe that a year has already passed, and our once tiny baby girl has become a toddler. Haaaappy birthday to you little Alina; our beautiful one-year-old sweetheart!
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| Clapping along to "Happy Birthday" |
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| Digging in to her 1st birthday sandcastle smash cake |
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| Baby eating her cake, messy precious! |
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| Enjoying the company of her party guests |
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| Opening her presents |
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| More gifts, but she was interested in the cards :) |
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| Just a few of her many birthday gifts, lucky little one :) |
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| Birthday banner, first year in photos, balloons, & gift bags |
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| Having fun in her new ball pit |
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| More under the sea birthday party decorations |
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| Pretty party remnants |
