First Birthday Party

TJ celebrated his first birthday party!

On the list of people who showed up were our friends Darci, Paul and Emily Gier with their girls, Olga and her children, Tony and Helen from across the street, and Glenn (my old boss). Oddly enough each person entered into the back yard everyone seemed to know each other from something other than Lisa or I.

Glenn, Paul and Emily knew each other from Lime Hollow Nature Center. Emily knew Tony from working at the hospital. Darci and Glenn knew each other from SUNY Cortland, and Olga knew Tony from being next door to him with TJ. What a small, strange circle of friends. Not that the people are strange, but that they are all interconnected.

TJ was a perfectly behaved one year old who was dotted on by her sister and the two girls, Alex and Natalie. He smiled a lot and got passed around to everyone.

It was a great night in the back yard. The set on the front of the house and the temperature was perfect for grilling and hanging out. Glenn held a seminar on "How To Hold a Garage Sale." Darci bubbled with excitement knowing that her husband was on his way home from Afghanistan for leave. The kids played and we even let Poly join the group. All that was missing was some tiki torches and mosquitoes.

TJ opened his presents with the help of his mommy and the girls. He tore through a bunch of great presents but his favorite was the Radio Flyer ATW red wagon from his mommy and daddy. We put him in the back and pulled him around the party. You would have thought he was the prince of Persia the way he smiled at his "subjects" and waved. What a ham.

TJ had a h-u-g-e cake made for him. He couldn't figure out the blowing out of the candle or that it was okay to sink his hands into the big red icing X on it. So we were a little late in getting the party organized and executed as evidenced by the writing on the cake in the video. Cake writing is not an Op Ed piece...



Thank you to everyone who came out. Thank you to everyone for the presents. We had a great party!