black storm clouds loomed in the distance, light rain fell from the sky and crazy winds kept knocking down my little box city, but i was determined that oscar’s first birthday be the backyard party i had envisioned from the start. the crazy weather combined with a wee case of procrastination-itis kept most of my more ambitious ideas from coming to fruition, but in the end, the sun came out, the birthday boy had a great time, and we were surrounded by so much love and laughter that “what was” was just as special as “what could have been”. huge thanks to everyone who joined us, and especially to our friend rob for surprising us with this amazing video of the festivities (seriously! his tiny camera is so inconspicuous that i thought he was just snapping a few photos) and more than making up for the fact that i hardly picked up my camera all day.