The Best Birthday Present Ever

First birthdays are filled with all kinds of wonderful things.

There are super-cool cupcakes... LOTS of pretty presents to tear open...

New toys to play with and fun guests to share them with... Yummy things to eat...

And, of course, BALLOONS!

But the BEST birthday present of all, is a whole week to spend with Gramma!!!!!
Gramma Schillinger was here in North Carolina exactly one year ago, waiting (and waiting...and waiting...and waiting) for the arrival of Miss Molly Joy. We were blessed that she was able to fly down from New York again this year to celebrate a very special first birthday.

A week with Gramma at the house is so much fun! We got to do all kinds of neat things together. First, we spent the afternoon at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. But we were so busy looking at all the cool skeletons and butterflies and turtles and bugs that we completely forgot to take any pictures.

We spent lots of time swinging this week, since that's one of Molly's favorite activities. I think she would spend all day in the swing if we let her! Swinging is even more fun when Gramma's here to push :)

We went out for ice cream at the new Mebane Ice Cream Shoppe, which this pregnant mama was VERY happy about! Ice cream is not a normal part of Molly's food repertoire, but when it's your birthday and the ice cream is organic and locally produced, we can make exceptions.
Lunch time is even more fun when Gramma's here!

We got to visit Molly's cousins in Eden (and swing some more). Corbin and Isaiah were very excited to have Gramma here too.

They all had a lot of fun playing in the water table. Since all three of them are just hanging out in their undies/diapers, I think Molly just looks like "one of the guys". Such cute cousins :)

Gramma and Molly played a fun game of "catch the water". Apparently, the tongue sticking out is an important component to winning this game :-P

On her last day here, we spent part of the afternoon at Duke Gardens. It is SO beautiful there. We had a great time wandering around the trails, learning the names of all the trees and flowers, and taking in all the beauty. Unfortunately, we only had a short time to be there before we had to take Gramma to the airport and it was quite humid. We can't wait to go back when we have a little more time and the weather's a little more bearable.

Molly enjoyed watching the ducks with Gramma.

Thanks, Mom, for such a wonderful week. We enjoyed having you here SO much and we're glad Molly got to spend so much time with you. Love you!