Beach Birthday Party

Today was Phoebe's beach birthday party!

We invited Jason's parents, the cousins, a couple of families, and Jason's fun co workers… just about everybody came!  I wasn't sure if people would be up for it, as it would mean driving quite a ways, but they did! I made it a pot luck, over having to include gifts… we have gotten a few select things for Phoebe, but hoping not to get overwhelmed with too much more stuff. I think after Cordelia's first birthday and Hanukkah, we definitely went overboard!  That doesn't mean I don't love you any less, Phoebe bird, it's just that we have learned that moderation is good too.

We gathered up all of our gear and somehow managed to make it and food all fit in Jason's car!  We'd thought we would have to bring two cars, but Jason is the tetris king.  We had to stop for ice at the last minute, so were running a bit late, but everyone I texted said they were just leaving themselves.  We made good time and went out to Muir Beach.

It was a gray, cloudy, chilly day, only in the 60s. I was hoping the sun would come out eventually, but it didn't.  Fortunately I had made sure to bring some jackets and while even warmer options would have been great, we were at least somewhat prepared. I even had an extra sweater I found in the car to lend out.

We ended up with way too much food, of course… I should have made a sign up chart, like we have at school, ha ha!

Jonathan had looked up a bunch of beach "hacks" on youtube. The most genius one was to prop up the sides of a fitted sheet with chairs and coolers, etc.  It made a little play pen, perfect for Phoebe!  This was great because she was not a fan of sand.  She fussed every time her foot touched it!  Phoebe ate some yummy snacks and then Meme got her to take a really decent nap in all the blankets! At first I could not find Phoebe's pacifier anywhere.  I searched Jason's whole car.  He went back to look for it, but then my brain figured out she must have thrown it into one of the bags we had carried to the beach. Paci secured, the nap came without too much difficulty.  Maybe before 2 we will wean from the paci, but in the meantime, it is a sleep-crutch I have to be grateful for

The kids were all huddling at first while they had food and adjusted to the cold.  But then we went out to explore.  We saw many sea shells, anenomes, and even found some crabs! Not a full tide pool, but lots of cool rocky areas.  Cordelia was doing well with exploring and even going in the water with us.  But after a minor fall with a minor scrape and then having some sea weed brush up against her in the tide, she was done.

I made mini banana chocolate chip muffins for her bday.  It was my first time using a mini muffin pan.  I didn't think cupcakes with frosting (even for other guests) would go well at the beach, so this was a healthier treat option and practical too.  Phoebe really liked sitting in the beach chair and having everybody sing to her! When I took off the wrapper, she knew just what to do and popped it in her mouth for a bite! Yay! She was so cute eating it up! She hummed and did a happy "yes" bounce.

We had fun beach plates and as favors gave out little plastic zippy cups with hawaiian flowers on them.  I put a tag that said Phoebe's 1st Birthday in the same color as the cup.  It was simple, but I think looked nice.  For the muffins I stuck a little plastic fish toothpick in the top to be decorative.

It never got sunny, so we never really needed the umbrellas we had lugged along and Phoebe didn't try out the pop-up tent that Mom-Mom sent her.  We'll see if I can convince Jason to go to the beach again before summer's over, or it will probably be fun next year.  Will we want to have a beach birthday when my baby is turning 2?! Ah! I can't even think that far ahead.  It seems impossible that she is going to be 1 on Monday!  My little Phoebe-bird, this year has flown by too quickly.  I love you, you are your most precious self.