Birthday Party and 4th of July

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July Weekend!! This weekend was busy and lots of fun for the Schmied Family. Friday I spent all day making cupcake pops (from Bakerella) and a giant cupcake cake. This was my trial run day for Ava's birthday party. The cupcake pops turned out perfect. Yummy and looked just like the picture. The cake on the other hand was a disaster. Burnt on the outside, gooey on the inside and the icing decorating was a mess. I tried to do it the home-made way but I think I'm gonna have to turn to a professional for this one! Then on Saturday we went to a 1 year old b-day party and my Mom came into town, so we had a cook-out that night. Sunday was of course 4th of July!! I remember this time last year when I was soooo pregnant and dreamed of what Ava's first 4th would be like. Would she be walking yet? Would she like the fireworks? Would she gobble up some watermelon? The answers are yes, yes, and yes. It was a rainy day :(, so no day at the beach, grilling at the pool, or picnic. However, it cleared up last night and we did get to go to the beach for the big firework show! Ava was mesmerized by the fireworks - would not take her eyes off of them. We had a great time and hubby looked over at me and said, these are the moments that seem fun right now but when we are old we will look back on as the best days of our life. He is so right and I try to soak in every moment of Ava and cherish every day of her life. :)