This past Saturday, January 17, Going Mom, Avery, and I met friends and family at Kona Grill to celebrate Papa’s (Kelley’s dad) 60th birthday. Nana had two large tables reserved and arranged the get-together for her loving husband’s big “Six-Oh”.

The party started at 4pm, which meant something all parents to babies and toddlers fear the most…..Nap Time Disruption! Despite this fear, Avery had a somewhat good nap before we made the drive down to Papa’s celebration.

We were the last ones to show, no thanks to a wreck on the highway and our own non-punctuality (c’mon, we have a baby!), but we weren’t that late.

The two tables were lined with family and friends along with a variety of appetizers to choose from. Kona Grill serves a mix of American fare along with sushi. Weird mix if you ask me, but the do serve quality food and cook from scratch. Then menu was set, but the servers kindly had a lobster sushi roll made just for me with no creamy sauce on top.

One of the pros of family gatherings is that everyone has to hold the baby, Avery, and it gives Going Mom and I a short break. The moment we arrived, before we could take our seats, Taylor and Ashlee, Avery’s cousins, rushed over to take her away.

Just hangin' with the girls — Just hangin’ with the girls

We enjoy a little free-from-baby time, family gets to hold our precious baby, and we all win! The infatuation with holding other peoples’ babies, I don’t totally understand, but our baby, it’s a no brainer, she’s the prettiest one EVER! Biased Parenting, we all do it, right?

Avery behaved better than expected for getting passed around all over the restaurant and also running around all over the restaurant as everyone took turns chasing after her. Well, there was one moment when I think Avery got a little annoyed with the constant too close for comfort attention. She didn’t say it, but in this case pictures really do speak louder than words!

Cute, huh? How's this for "cute"?! — Cute, huh? How’s this for “cute”?!

It was great to see my mom (G-Ma) there, and despite Avery flipping the bird, she took part in the baby holding/chasing experience.

Two beautiful ladies!

Speaking of, Nana and Aunt Lindsay along with a good friend all got the memo to wear white and looked fabulous as usual.

Left to Right: Friend, Nana, Aunt Lindsay

I was lucky enough to have my picture taken with two beautiful ladies as well. One with my wonderful mom….

….and another with Going Mom/my stunning wife!

Everyone complimented Avery on how precious she was and repeatedly told us how they adored her. We love hearing compliments about our awesome baby, and we couldn’t agree more with each bit of praise she receives. There was one instance, when someone tried to tell us Avery doesn’t have baby fat and that we need to give her sugar. I laughed for a second, then put my serious face on to get ready for battle!

Luckily, they finally gave up and Going Mom and I were able to contain ourselves (kinda) as we clenched our teeth. Phew, never challenge our parenting, especially when it comes to what we feed our daughter!!

Anyway, as the party neared the end, Papa was presented with a big carrot cake as we all sang “Happy Birthday” to him. Nana made sure to cheer him on as he drew in a big breath to blow out the candles. Luckily she didn’t have a candle for each year, he’d need a big breath and fire extinguisher to put those out! Sorry, Steve, just had a give you a good ole son-in-law jab at your age! Will you still let me keep your daughter as my wife? Okay, just one picture with her, but seriously, I want her back! 🙂

After opening gifts and the cake presentation, Avery had made several rounds with everyone holding and playing with her and we were still proud at how well she held up. But, she finally started getting cranky and wound up back with us.

It didn’t take long for us to catch on to Avery’s cues of being tired and ready to leave, so we said our goodbyes and made the trek back home.

Since we didn’t have much of the appetizers, we were hungry, and despite it being late, we still went for our evening (fast) walk before dinner. Avery slept well that night, and for that, so did we.

Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Steve/Papa, we all love you!

Do you have events that require a disruption from normal nap time procedure?

If so, is it hard for you to find an alternative?

Ever catch your kid giving the finger to the camera? To you?

Phew, we survived her first birthday! Better yet, so did she! There were more people around than Avery was used to and way too much going on, but she eventually warmed up to the crowd.

The cake, being the first time she’s had sugar, might’ve helped a little. Her cake was actually a pumpkin brownie recipe I used as a base but cut out some of the sugar called for and used stevia in place. This is what we served as dessert to our guests and no one said they didn’t like it, so that’s good, right?

We are still in recovery mode after the long weekend, so I’m cutting it short and just making this a photo dump of the big day. Enjoy!

You spend hours creating my cake, I'll reduce it to rubble in under a minute! — You spend hours creating my cake, I’ll reduce it to rubble in under a minute!

Ummm, dad, your nose is in my eye and both of you are in the way of my cake!

While demolishing her cake, it suddenly hit her......"I'm one!!!" — While demolishing her cake, it suddenly hit her……”I’m one!!!”

It only makes sense to be in your birthday suit, opening birthday gifts, on your birthday, right?

Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies for the guests. We had a lot left over!!

Seriously, anything that lights up is an instant win!

Going Mom opens gifts, I write who they were from, Avery plays with wand and paper. Sums up most of the party!

I hope she always feels this way about sugary food!

We made cake from the chocolate pumpkin brownie batches I baked and Kelley used Greek yogurt for icing and blueberries for the "1" — We made cake from the chocolate pumpkin brownie batches I baked and Kelley used Greek yogurt for icing and blueberries for the “1”

Fun times indeed! Hoping to post a follow up with a quick summary of events and more photos of the fun Avery has been having with her new toys. Maybe she’ll even be walking by then. Hmmm, how long have I been saying that now???