Ellen's 1st Birthday

Ellen turned 1 year old yesterday!  We can't believe a whole year has passed since our precious baby girl entered the world. Jeff and I are honored to be her parents and to have the privilege to watch her grow and learn more every day. 

 Because of her love of animals, Ellen's birthday was farm animal themed. Even a few of the balloons had animals on them. 

 Ellen spotting her balloons and presents in the morning.

 "Mooo" says the cow on the white balloon.

 Opening her present from Uncle Jason and Tia Angela.

It was so cute... she started to open her present from Jason and Angela, then she was off to the next present... she was simply so excited by all the presents!

 She finally opened her present to find a beautiful dress..."Now on to the next one, Mommy!"

 One present from Mommy and Daddy was a Fisher Price baby doll and a stroller...

 ...and another was a mouse "Wheely Bug", just behind her on the floor, so she can (eventually) scootch around inside.

 We were hoping to open the presents from Grandma and Grandpa Norm over Skype, but Ellen helped herself to a couple of presents before we could talk with them.

Showing off her princess wrapping paper from Grandma

Following on with the farm animal theme, we took Ellen to the Acton Scott Historic Working Farm (website).  "Today, the Historic Working Farm offers a fascinating insight into rural life at the turn of the 19th century, as farm life unfolds daily and the land around is worked by heavy horses. There are daily demonstrations of period skills and visits from the Wheelwright, Farrier and Blacksmith, providing a picture of life as it might have been on a Victorian country estate."  

Although it was very chilly, it was dry and sunny... a nice day in England!  We walked around the farm, not only seeing animals up close, but also making their respective sounds! 

 The late 19th century school house, in which we later had lunch.

 A chicken among the remaining snow

 The 18th century Home Farm in the distance....

 ...and up close.  The "Bailiff's house" (a Bailiff, as we learned, was the farm manager)

 The shepherd's hut, which included a bed and a cast iron stove for long days and nights in the fields during the lambing season.

The Bailiff's wife at work in the kitchen

 The farm yard including the pigsty, the horse stables and the dairy.... can you spot the dung heap?!

 The giant Shire horses were having their hooves trimmed and horseshoes fitted.  We were a bit too close for my comfort!

 

 Baby chickies and baby duckies huddled together under a warming lamp...too cute!

 Cows up close!

Again, a bit too close for my comfort, but Ellen loved watching them.

 Piggies!  These are Tamworth piglets... they will probably become Acton Scott sausages at some point.

 Admiring the piggies

 A calf

 After being in the cold and wind for at least an hour and a half, Ellen decided it was time to have lunch at the cafe in the old school house. Ellen loved the Acton Scott sausages!

There were still more animals to see after lunch.  We stayed a little while longer, but then it was time to head home.

 Ellen's cake and cute napkins

 I even received a bouquet of flowers from Jeff!  (Oh, yeah. It was my birthday, too!)

 Ellen helping Mommy to open one of her gifts from a very thoughtful friend from church.

 They were little mice made with Hershey kisses!  Too cute!

 We sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candle, but Ellen wasn't as excited an animal-themed cake as we had imagined she would be! In fact she got very upset.  We couldn't figure out why she was reacting the way she was, but later we guessed that perhaps she was afraid of the animals around the cake!

 So, instead of having cake then, we opened another present. This one was from the Lehmanns in California.  Ellen was sooooo excited to open her gift and absolutely loves playing with it.  It is a Fisher Price tea set that sings and makes sounds.  She quickly figured out how to make it work.

Ellen opened the remaining two presents from her Grandma and Grandpa Norm while on Skype with Grandma (Norm was away).  We returned to the cake, but again, she was afraid. Despite our numerous attempts to sit her in her highchair to have Ellen eat fistfuls of cake, she preferred to sit in Mommy's lap with her Randy and eat cake from Mommy's fork.

 Ellen opened the rest of the presents. Here she is admiring handmade overalls from our friends Wendy and Simon in Gloucester.

Ellen enjoyed her favorite meal for supper: salmon, rice and peas.

Phew! What a busy 1st birthday!