It was like Christmas in July.

And Shari, Khan, my brother Ben, and I had all pissed Santa Claus off.

Lily, obviously, got plenty of her presents for her second birthday.

But Erik, Ben, Lori, and Nana all had birthday recognition, too.


Okay, fine. It was more of a slightly acknowledged birthday for these adults, alongside an all-out birthday party for our favorite toddler.

Nana made quite the birthday party. She's sort of "go big or go home," when it comes to birthdays.






By the time we left, Lily not only had a very clear idea of what a birthday party was, she also became very familiar with the concept of presents.

Giving Lily toys at the start is much like giving Erik a book early on Christmas Eve. First one is enough. (Thanks, Shari, Lily continues to love her dog, puppy, and their little doghouse.)
Lily had a weird need to show all her presents to her uncle Ben.

He helped her open everything.



All in all, it was a pretty awesome second birthday party / Christmas in July. We all got pretty spoiled (thanks, all), we all got to be a little silly, but mostly, we got to spend this birthday together.