first things, first

here's a peek of the girlie's first birthday tailgate. she wasn't quite sure of what to think while watching us run around and get the tailgate situated. so, she just sat on the chick-fil-a nugget platter (minus the nuggets, of course) and soaked it all in.

and then, like the light above the griswold family christmas tree, her cousin mia arrived.

oh, how we love mia. i'm already thinking of ways we can smuggle her back to asheville with us. and when mia found bigger people to play with, the tunnel arrived!

i have a feeling a tunnel very similar to this one will find a permanent place in our hallway. i'm sure the dogs will adjust to their new mode of travel down the hallway. don't worry, cousin elic got his chance in the tunnel too.

now for the most important of details...the sweets! mmm, hamburger cupcakes.

well, not really hamburger. more like brownie-burger cupcakes. they actually tasted as good as they looked. i found this really cute idea on one of my favorite cooking/baking blogs. and you know, you can't have burgers without fries.

that's what sugar cookies are for. special thanks to the chick-fil-a of clayton, ga for sponsoring this event.

mary adelyn thoroughly enjoyed her very own red velvet birthday cake (although, i'm pretty sure she never really made it past the icing).

and even decided to share with her daddy.

this girl is a true sweetheart, especially now that she has entered the world of sugar. all in all, it was a wonderful tailgate. we couldn't have asked for better weather. and the amount of friends and family that traveled to athens truly amazed us. byron kept saying the last time we had that many people gathered for an event was for our wedding. which just so happen to take place about 15 feet to the right of our tailgate.

it's still hard to believe that mary adelyn is officially a toddler.

here's to many more years just as fun as the last!