Rory's First Birthday • Every Day Dress by Rebecca Collins

*Lindsey, Ethan, and Rory. Lindsey chose a* *red and white theme and tied fun balloons around the property.*

*all the boys started things off with some practice golf swings*

The pool area was set with lawn games and decorated with balloons. After many seasons of doing mixeRory’stings in the large pots I have settled on a single color bright red geranium as they tolerate full sun and infrequent watering.

Caroline and Liam. Caroline is wearing the dress and belt that I wore ldaughter’sor Rory’s baby shower. I love that all my clothes have a second lShe’snd can be re-worn by myself, my daughter, and my friends.

Every August, we would have a banger of a partson’sour country house to celebrate our youngeMary’sghter’s birthday; it became an annual affair until she went to college. She’s now a college graduate (yay!), and our oldest son recently asked us if he and his wife could host their son’s birthday at our place, much like we did Mary’s, and of course, it was an absolute yes.

*Ethan ordered a tent at the last minute as weather reports predicted rain. The rain heldBooie’snd everyone gathered underneath the tent for food and cake.*

*Elizabeth, Karen, Rory, and Maisy are on the deck, the cocktail and pool area in th*e *background.*

*Four beautiful women and one precious beautiful babe, loowasn’ter in Booie’s arms.*

*Booie made the cutouts. She has started her own cookie business. I will do a full blog post on her work when her website is up and running. She has been shipping all over the country!*

*Lindsey’s friend made the cupcakes and Rory’s small smash cake. At the end of the party there wasn’t one cookie to be found!*

*Rory with his first birthday cake. Bounce house in the background. (sorry for the water bottle in the foreground, it was a fun and busy afternoon!)*

*The cotton candy machine was a big hit with guests of all ages.*

*Most of the littles went for a swim after lunch.*

*Can it get any better than a two-piece swimsuit AND cotton candy?*

*Rory is ONE! Yay!* All photos above taken by Maxwell Collins, on Instagram @maxyny

Rory turned one on June 23^rd, and we celebrated on Sunday, June 26^th. Ethan and Lindsey went full tilt for the little guy. I love that the party tradition continues and that the next generation is all in.

*Early mornin*g *bounce house set up with the grands still in their pj’s*

*Lindsey in the kitchen slicing the watermelon. It was all hands on deck getting ready. Most of our at home parties are DIY, and we all pitched in.*

*I wore a long cotton Cucinelli* *dress I bought a few years ago with new Lafayette sandals*

*Rory and William playing with the toy baskets Lindsey assembled for the kids.*

*The young, handsome men in my life, Sean, Maxwell, and Ethan*

*We set an informal, help yourself bar area*

*Lindsey did red gingham gift bags for the children*

*Lindsey tied the flatware and paper napkins with red gingham ribbon*

*Hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, and salads were served from a grill and food truck behind the tent*

*My iPhone capture of the cake and cookie spread*

*Proud dad Sean and beautiful Peyton enjoying cupcakes.*

Beautiful mom Lindsey and Rory before the singing of Happy Birthday. My sister Tracy bought the wooden high chair in a consignment store in Ellicottville for $20. We love that it is getting such great use!

*William enjoying orzo and peas. Check out Lucy waiting for the spills!*

*Here is where it got more fun and even crazy; we had a house and yard full of partiers looking for dinner so we pulled everything from the fridge and put together food for twenty-four plus!*

I wasn’t entirely off the hook; people lingered and were looking for dinner. I gathered some beautiful, young guests to help in the kitchen, emptied the fridge of anything remotely grill worthy, and assembled a quick al fresco dinner for about two dozen guests.

*Voila! Dinner is served. Here I’m wearing a dress from Worth New York that I bought probably twelve years ago. It’s good to keep good things.*

Rory had an outfit change too. 🙂 We piled all the food on the dining room table and served from the house while setting two long picnic tables end to end on the pool deck. I even re-heated leftover pizza, nothing went to waste. I didn’t have any hamburger rolls so we made do by slicing and toasting the English muffins. 🙂

*Pretty mom Caroline with her two beautiful children.*

*I love how Peyton is tucking into her hot dog. Notice the large brass dinner bell, it gets plenty of action around here.*

*Rory and BaPa, the most handsome man ever 🙂*

*The gang’s all here for impromptu al fresco dinner. It’s a good party when no one wants to go home.*

*Messy hair, don’t care. We were busy and having so much fun.*

*Peyton in her 4th of July pj’s with Aunt Booie enjoying old fashioned skippy cups for dessert. How good is that little wooden spoon?*

As food and dresses are top hits for me, an outfit change was in order too.

Rory is a beautiful boy, full of energy and smiles, and we all showed up to celebrate him. It was a fantastic day. Thank you, Ethan and Lindsey, for sharing your love.