I think I’ve told you all quite a few times how my Mother’s Group gets along great. And because all of our bubs’ birthdays fall within a month and a day from the youngest to the oldest, we thought it’d be fantastic if we were to celebrate their first birthday at the midpoint – Saturday 30 June.

Thanks to Lisa, Xav, and the very magnetic personality of Charlie the Bumble Bee, we were able to engage a petting zoo for the afternoon! That being very much the centrepiece of the party, the birthday theme became Farmyard Animals, which meant I scoured ebay to score me a practical-yet-cute Winter costume for Arddun.

Observe:

Arddun in a duck costume
Daddy’s little duckling

There were lots of yummy animal-themed food and decor:

Party decorations and food

And many hilarious moments watching the babies interact with the baby lambs, the kittens, the teenage chickens, the dog… and Arddun’s favourite, the ducks.

She was also quite fascinated with the lambs:

And the rest of them:

Stroking the bunny
Practising her “gentle” strokes on the soft bunny wabbit in Auntie Carrie’s arms.
Lamb feeding time
“Oh look! A lamb!”
Arddun pointing at dog
“Oh look! A dog!”
Lamb sniffs Arddun's hand
“Tee hee! That tickles!”
Arddun stares at chicken
“Why do these fellas remind me of dinner?”
Arddun gets closer to the chickens
“My mommy calls you ‘Tandoori’, but I think you’re beautiful.”
Arddun with the chickens
Duck and chickens
Arddun sitting next to a lamb
“I’m having the best day ever!”

Unfortunately, I was trying to cough up a lung the entire afternoon, and so apart from snapping up a storm during the petting zoo bit, I didn’t take many photos at all. Was trying to keep a safe distance from most of the littlies and their mommies. Quite a bummer, because I had intended to take at least one shot of Arddun with each of her friends – and have some photos of me with the other mothers, too. After all, it isn’t just the babies’ birthdays – it’s a wonderful celebration of our first year as parents.

But the great news is that we had an event photographer on the day, thanks to Carrie’s sister! So yes… watch this space. xx