Birthday Boy!

April 29 was Hudson’s first birthday. It felt like we blinked and an entire year went by. To celebrate the first birthday, Rollie and I took the afternoon off work to take Hudson to the zoo. We rode the carousel, saw Nikita the Polar Bear, and walked through Africa. It was a gorgeous day for a zoo trip.

For his first birthday party, we planned an ocean and whale themed party in the park. Franklin Park was completely overhauled and reopened just before his birthday, so we reserved the beautiful new pavilion and invited just close friends and family. The park is a great location, just a few blocks from our house in Prairie Village. Here's the invitation:

 

We had an amazing cake, decorated with frosted cookies to spell Hudson’s name and ocean décor. Hudson had his own little “smash cake” – and smash he did! I don’t think any of it actually ended up in his mouth, but he loves smashing it (and I think he liked having an audience). Here’s video of the smashing of the cake.
 

Birthday Boy!

Gorgeous cake - the decorations are made of frosted cookies

Simple snack foods

Ready, Set, Smash!

I think he's looking at us to see if it's ok that he's smashing the cake.

Really getting into it!

Covered in cake.

Smashing Complete!

A beautiful day in the park for a party. 

Scott, Chris, Rollie and Jake