Happy 1st Birthday, Clare!

My niece turned 1 last month, and Joseph and I were fortunate enough to be able to make the trip out to Chicago to celebrate. Because I went alone with Joseph and we didn't have to worry about how many days Will would take off from work I was able to go for a long weekend.
Friday morning we went to the zoo.

Just a couple cousins hanging out at the zoo.

Wow, this bench sure is interesting!

While we were there we took the opportunity to get a few shots with the kids.

Julia, Adam and Clare

Joseph and me

At the zoo we spent our time in a building designed especially for toddlers and young children. It was awesome. We spent quite a bit of time in the greenhouse letting Adam water the plants - his favorite activity at the zoo.

Joseph watches Adam water the plants.

Saturday was Clare's birthday party. Happy 1st birthday, Clare!

She loved her cupcake...

...and was adorable when opening standing on her gifts.

Joseph, Will and I got her a doll stroller. She walked with it (with help) every chance she got :)

Sunday we went to the library where they had a really great kids section. Joseph loved it. Unfortunately, he had a wee accident on one of the tables - he busted his lip and chipped his tooth. Looking back I think it was because he wasn't used to the low table height (made for toddlers). On most furniture his face would have already cleared any obstacles by the time he was 1 foot from the ground (the approximate height of the table where he hit his lip), but because the table was so low his lip hit :( Obviously, he was upset and in a lot of pain, but I let the water from the water fountain run over his lip and he quite enjoyed that (and the cool water helped ease the bleeding/pain). We even went back for several more trips for him to enjoy the fountain before we left. By Monday you could hardly tell he had even had an accident (thank goodness!) and his lip didn't seem to bother him at all.

Monday was spent hanging out and visiting before we headed home on Tuesday. I'll end with one of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

Just a couple cousins hangin' out in their jammies.