Oakley Lane is 1!

Oakley is 1!  Can you believe it?

I CANNOT believe how fast this past year has gone, but it has definitely been the best year of my life!  Turning 1 is a big deal so we pretty much celebrated Oakley’s birthday all month long.  Her birthday celebration started at the beginning of the month when her Memaw and Papa came to visit her.  We had a little birthday party for her, ate Angel Food cake, and opened up presents!

The weekend before her birthday we went to the county fair.  If there’s something that will really make you feel like you’re in the South, it’s the county fair. Oakley loved looking at all of the livestock and she must have went in the petting zoo at least five times.  The petting zoo had baby goats, miniature goats, and a miniature calf.  She chased the goats all over and smiled the entire time!  Every time we left the petting zoo, she walked right back over to it!  The lady at the gate smiled and laughed every time we came back.  I think Oakley needs some goats!

We snuck in before the fair opened and got some pictures!

The day before her birthday, two sets of her grandparents arrived and everyone was excited to celebrate her first birthday during the upcoming week.  The next morning was Oakley’s actual birthday and we decided to take her to the Wild Wilderness Drive Through Safari in Gentry, Arkansas. We drove about two hours to get there but she slept most of the way.  When we got there, we went in the petting zoo with the goats but these goats were a little more aggressive and excited than the ones at the fair, so her grandpa held her while we were in there.  After that, we got to see the kangaroos and they were super laid back and docile.  We all couldn’t believe how soft they were.  They had kangaroos, monkeys, a bunch of miniature animals, and camels that you could walk around and see.  The giraffes were probably the coolest part!

 

After we finished walking around, we got in the car and drove through the four mile safari. There was a ton of cattle and emu!  The emu came up to the car and were staring at us through the window.  Oakley was hitting the window and talking/yelling at it!  She thought it was so neat to see all of the animals out the window.  At one point, the cattle surrounded the car and we heard a knocking noise.  It took a couple of seconds for all of us to realize that none of us made that noise.  One of the long horns bumped up against the side of the car. At that point, we decided it was time to move on lol.

We saw zebras, a rhino, wolves, and bears!  The bears and wolves were actually in the same encounter which was crazy to see.  There was a white tiger, but it was so hot out that it stayed in it’s house.  We all couldn’t believe how big the Rhino was.

Once we left the zoo, we ate dinner at a bbq restaurant and then drove home. We sang Happy Birthday to Oakley when we got home and she opened some presents.  It was such a fun day and a great way to celebrate our little birthday girl!  She spent that whole week being spoiled by her two sets of grandparents and she had the best time!  She played and played and played.  That weekend, we had a party with our family and friends.  Oakley had so much fun playing with her friends, eating cake, and playing with her new toys!  She got a lot of toys that make noise and play music.  She loves to press the buttons so they make music and then she dances to them.  She also got some doll stuff for her baby, which she loves!  She loves to feed her baby doll pretend baby food, give her a bottle, and hug her.  It has got to be one of the cutest things!

Overall, I would say we had the best time celebrating our little sunshine girl with her family and friends. She is so fun to be around and it was so cute to see how excited she got over everything.  She loves being outside, spending time with her animals, hugging her baby doll, dancing, and helping me do chores.  If I say we’re going to do a load of wash, she leads the way to the laundry room. She also loves to “supervise” while I feed the dogs lol.  Usually, I hold her while I make dinner so she can see what I’m doing.  She doesn’t like to be fed and insists on feeding herself.  She’s really independent and a little bit stubborn sometimes but I know that those qualities will help her accomplish great things in life.  She got a little Disney Princess car for her birthday that she loves to ride on or give her baby doll rides on.  We read a lot of books but she usually turns the pages faster than I can read and then is ready to move onto the next book.  She still gets so excited to see her little buddy Reed every morning when I drop her off.  She does the “come here” hand motion to everyone and everything!  She is such a little blueberry monster and wil put some blueberries away like nobody’s business.  Oakley Lane, the joy you bring to your family, your friends, and this world is irreplaceable!