The big 1st birthday

Max turned one on April 4th. His grandpa Lassen came in from Utah to celebrate with him and on his birthday he had a space party. Max wore his NASA commander suit, and felt very proud of himself. His silly mum forgot to take photos at his party with his friends but we have a few surrounding the event.







Max had a chocolate spaceship cake with lots of frosting. We were a little concerned that he wouldn't really know what to do with a big cake as he hadn't had one before, so the day before his birthday we gave him a practice run. We didn't need to worry as a few seconds in to the experiment he was digging in to the cake with both hands and stuffing fistfuls into his mouth. Just look at those eyes in the first picture to see the fierceness with which he is digging in. After a short while we had to pry it away from his for fear that he would make himself sick and also that the novelty might wear off before his real cake at his party.





As it happened, the real cake did not go down so well. I think the fact that he was stripped down and put in his chair in front of a room of cheering and laughing people may have contributed to his displeasure. He screamed and cried and tried to get out of his chair - but even in his anger, he managed to shove several large handfuls of cake into his sobbing mouth. So, though not quite what we anticipated, it was a very entertaining event. Though the cake was not a huge hit, Max loved his party balloons and loved being spoiled by his grandpa...



and to our surprise, was a very interested and appreciative gift receiver.





All in all a good first bithday

Grandma England's visit and Easter

After a very long, cold, and uneventful January and February our lives have been brightened by a string of fun visitors. Grandma came over from England to visit us over easter. It was still very cold outside so we didn't get to go out and about much but we had a lovely time and Max loved having her here. He soon worked out how to boss her around too. Here we are freezing to death at High Bridge - on the Kentucky River just South of where we live. Don't you love the clear blue water?





Grandma bought us all English easter eggs and Max seemed to get right into the spirit of it with his Cadbury's chocolate buttons egg.









At the end of Grandma's trip, Auntie Dorothy and Uncle Nick came to visit us on their way back up from Florida. Max had a lovely time with them at their RV and had his first experience on a park slide - which he loved.