ONE Happy Camper: A First Birthday Party
ONE Happy Camper: Miles' First Birthday
Let’s Talk About First Birthdays…
Why is there so much pressure to throw an amazing birthday party for a little human who won’t remember any of it? I almost spent thousands of dollars on an in-room camping experience at a luxury hotel (we’ll only ever have one first birthday, I told myself and anyone who would listen), I considered throwing multiple parties for family and friends in different locations, because I doubted my Missouri family would come all the way up to Chicago just for a first birthday. Eventually the pressure got to me and I scrapped it all and just decided to DIY the whole thing, pare it down to the bare minimum, and call it a day. There will be plenty of years when Miles will ask for something specifically and that’s when I really want to bring it. The first birthday is for the parents, they say, and my husband and I aren’t really party throwers, we are party go-ers. So we skipped the party, booked a photoshoot, bought a cake, planned an outing to Lightscape at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It wasn’t grand, but it was meaningful.
Then…my father-in-law got sick and I had to cancel those plans. After agonizing over the perfect way to celebrate Miles’ first birthday and finally settling on the perfect celebration for our little family, in the end life threw us a curve ball. “The best laid plans…” and all that. Instead, my mother-in-law hosted a small gathering at her home. It wasn’t what I would’ve planned, but we were celebrating with people who love Miles dearly and some of my best birthday memories are when I celebrated with my grandparents.
The ONE Happy Camper “Invitation”
Did I hire a graphic designer to design a custom invitation back when I thought I was throwing a big-time party? Yes, yes, I did. And then, at the last minute when we were actually throwing a party did I forget to use it? Yes, again. So will it live only on this blog post? Most likely…so I hope you enjoy. :) And if you want a custom birthday invitation that you may or may not use, might I suggest Kelsey of Kelsey Lauren Design?
Items to DIY a ONE Happy Camper Birthday
It was about two weeks before Miles’ birthday when we got the news about my father-in-law. We had less than 24 hours between receiving the news and leaving town, so packing was done in a hurry. I did remember to bring the four items above so that we could have some semblance of the birthday I’d imagined for Miles.
Photos
Originally I’d booked Christina Wilken to take Miles’ first birthday photos. We’d planned on meeting on Friday morning at Belmont Harbor for some city shots as a family and some camping shots of Miles with trees in the background. I’m so grateful that Christina is a good friend and an understanding human, so when I explained the situation she allowed me to cancel and sent a sweet email with her condolences.
Professional photos were the one thing I was not willing to compromise on. The first person I thought of and the only person I reached out to when I was in need of a last-minute photographer during photographers busiest season was Rhiannon of Lollipop Photography in Columbia, MO. A long time ago (which seems like a different lifetime!) she and my husband worked at a bank together. She took couples photos of us when she was first starting out as a photographer and a few years later she took photos of my friends when we graduated with our Masters and Doctorate degrees. I’d seen her around Columbia (usually during our annual trip back for the True/False Film Festival) and kept in touch a bit via social media, but it had been years since we’d spoken. I don’t know if I got lucky that Rhiannon had an opening on Miles’ birthday or if she pulled a massive favor for me (I’ll probably never know) but she somehow squeezed us in and captured the ONE HAPPY CAMPER theme beautifully. I’ll forever be grateful to her for this beautiful photos.
The ONE Happy Camper Cake
I nearly spent $120 on a cake that would be destroyed by a 1-year old and enjoyed by noone solely because it is our favorite cake shop in town and I thought Miles deserved the best. Luckily, I came to my senses and ordered a much less expensive cake that was perfectly attractive for the photos. Big shoutout to Bittersweet Pastry in Chicago for offering reasonably priced smash cakes for moms like me. And ALSO for allowing me to cancel when our family was having an emergency. We’ll definitely be ordering cakes from you again.
And also a big thank-you to Sweet Things Bakery in St. Charles, MO for making us a cake at the last minute. It was exactly what I’d hoped for and absolutely delicious. Some of you may be rolling your eyes wondering why I didn’t just make the cake myself. I could have, and it probably would’ve looked fine, but I don’t enjoy cooking and I really don’t enjoy decorating cakes, and I would rather spend that time playing with my son than holed away in the kitchen. I considered this a gift to myself, which actually ended up being a gift from my mom because she took on the task of finding a new bakery when I was overwhelmed with relocating my family for a month.
ONE Happy Camper Through the Last 12 Months
Baby Books About Camping
Reading books about camping to kids offers a range of benefits, including:
Inspiring Outdoor Exploration: Camping books introduce children to the joys of outdoor adventures, inspiring them to explore nature, go camping, and discover the wonders of the great outdoors.
Encouraging Appreciation for Nature: Camping books often highlight the beauty and diversity of natural environments such as forests, mountains, lakes, and rivers, fostering an appreciation for nature and the environment in children.
Promoting Outdoor Skills: Camping books can teach children valuable outdoor skills such as setting up tents, building campfires, cooking over a campfire, identifying wildlife and plants, and practicing Leave No Trace principles.
Fostering Independence and Self-Reliance: Camping encourages children to be self-reliant and independent as they learn to navigate outdoor environments, solve problems, and take care of themselves in a natural setting.
Stimulating Imagination and Creativity: Camping books often feature imaginative stories, adventurous characters, and exciting scenarios that spark children's imagination and creativity, inspiring them to create their own outdoor adventures.
Teaching Survival Skills: Camping books can teach children important survival skills such as finding shelter, sourcing clean water, and navigating using maps and compasses, instilling confidence and preparedness for outdoor adventures.
Promoting Physical Activity: Camping involves physical activities such as hiking, swimming, fishing, and exploring, promoting physical fitness and active lifestyles in children.
Facilitating Family Bonding: Reading camping books together as a family can create opportunities for bonding and shared experiences, whether planning a camping trip, reminiscing about past adventures, or dreaming about future outdoor expeditions.
Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills: Camping often presents challenges and obstacles that require problem-solving skills to overcome, such as bad weather, navigation errors, or equipment malfunctions. Reading camping books can teach children resilience, adaptability, and resourcefulness in the face of adversity.
Instilling a Love of Camping and the Outdoors: Ultimately, reading books about camping to kids can instill a lifelong love of camping and the outdoors, fostering a deep connection to nature and a sense of adventure and exploration that lasts a lifetime.
In summary, reading books about camping to kids offers a range of educational, recreational, and developmental benefits, including inspiring outdoor exploration, promoting appreciation for nature, teaching outdoor skills, fostering independence and self-reliance, stimulating imagination and creativity, teaching survival skills, promoting physical activity, facilitating family bonding, enhancing problem-solving skills, and instilling a love of camping and the outdoors. Whether children dream of sleeping under the stars, roasting marshmallows around a campfire, or exploring new trails, camping books provide endless opportunities for adventure and discovery in the great outdoors.
