Maxwell's 1st Birthday Party!

With a busy summer, planning for Maxwell's birthday didn't really start until just a few days before the event. All we knew is that we were going to go with a "bubbles" theme. Bubbles won out over a nautical theme(over it), puppy theme, and definitely a clown theme. I think everyone agrees that clowns are a bit scary. A few days before his party, we went to Virginia BBQ in Carrolton to taste their menu, their ENTIRE menu. They were really nice and gave us a sample of everything they had. Elyce and I sat there trying the different types of pulled pork. Trying to see which BBQ sauce tasted best with which type of BBQ. It was all good. Unfortunately we couldn't take everything, so we picked what we thought most people would like, ordered enough for 25 adults and checked that off the list!

 A few days before the party, Elyce worked on some decorations while I rearranged furniture in the family room to provide room for all the kids to run and play. We came up with an idea to have an inflatable swimming pool filled with plastic balls for the kids to play in. Elyce ordered the pool and balls from Amazon and when it came in, I inflated it in the family room. The first one we ordered was a bit too big. By the time we put the 200 plastic balls in the huge 8 foot plus pool, it looked more like balls on a pool table rather than the Chuck-E-Cheese ball pit we were hoping for. So we ordered a smaller pool and a lot more balls!

The night before the party, some family and friends arrived in town and helped decorate the house and get things together. Elyce's cousin, Tasha, even stopped by for a few hours, driving all the way from Pennsylvania! She and her children helped come up with some last minute ideas, blew up some balloons, and had dinner with us before driving back to Pennsylvania.

 The day of the party was great! All of the party ideas went off without a hitch. Bubbles were flowing on the front porch from the automatic bubble maker. The ball-filled inflatable pool was full and ready for the kids. The catered BBQ was hot and ready to go. Balloons were everywhere and provided just the right amount of "bubble-ness" we were looking for. The kids laughed and played together like they've know each other for years. Maxwell had such a good time. He laughed so much and tried his best to keep up with the older children. The best part of the party was singing happy birthday to Maxwell as we gave him his first piece of birthday cake! He was a little apprehensive at first and wouldn't allow Elyce to feed him any of the cake. But once he tasted the sweet green and blue frosting, his quickly began to go for more! He eventually was grabbing cake by the fistful and trying to eat as much cake and frosting as his little cheeks could hold. He even tried to eat the paper plate the cake was on! Everyone was waiting with cameras aimed to see what his reaction would be to his first piece of cake. And little Maxwell did not disappoint. He loved it. We loved it!

 Maxwell may not ever remember the day we all celebrated his first year of life. But, when he gets older, what I hope he sees in the pictures and videos is that he was surrounded by family and friends that loved him.

Happy Birthday Maxwell!

A special thank you to Uncle Fred Woodson, for taking so many great photos and putting together the video in this post.

Maxwell's Baptism and Dedication

Maxwell's First Christmas

Welcome Baby Maxwell

Reggie & Elyce's Pregnancy Announcement

Middlebrooks' Christmas 2013

Fishing in St. Augustine

Whenever our friends Marinelle and Mike invite us down to Florida to go fishing it's hard for us to say no. Even Elyce who is a self proclaimed non-fisher has become pretty fond of the trips. So on Labor Day weekend we went down to spend some time on the water.

It started off fairly mundane. A few bites here and there. But not many keepers. Mike suggested we take the boat out off shore a few miles to see what we can catch. We get about 9 miles offshore, where the water is that really pretty blue. Elyce drops a line a catches a few pretty small fish that we end up using as bait. Mike hooks one her fish onto his pole and casts it out into the water. As soon as he has it in the water, it takes off. Something big and fast took his bait. Being the gracious host that he is, he hands me the rod and reel and says "Reggie, she's all yours!". I take the rod and out from the water jumps what in my mind was a marlin or swordfish. My hearts racing as I'm trying to stay cool. Elyce pulls out her phone and begins video recording this. So I know I can't say or do anything stupid or else it will be recorded forever. After about 15 minutes of fighting with this fish I reel it in close enough to the boat for Mike to hook it and pull it into the boat. When he pulled it into the boat I admit that it wasn't the great marlin that I thought I was battling but it was a pretty big fish none the less. We guess that it's a kingfish or perhaps a great mackerel. It takes a while to get the hook out if its mouth. By this time there's a good amount of blood everywhere. I think Elyce makes her way to the front of the boat to stay clear of all the carnage. We take a few pics, perform a round of high fives and throw it in the cooler. Now I must admit, between the rocking of the boat, the massive amount of blood on the deck and a queasy stomach...I couldn't hold it in any longer. I blew chunks! I was so nauseous! Everyone just kinda turned their heads as I was heaving chum into the water. Mike decided we should probably head back to calmer waters. 

We pull up to a sandbar where Elyce and Marinelle jump out of the boat to enjoy the sand and water a bit. Mike and I pull out the fish book and quickly realize that we didn't have a kingfish like we thought. We had a barracuda! I google "are barracudas edible?". And while they are, most people agree it's probably not a good idea because of all the toxins that they may have. Especially when they are big.

We kept it in the cooler overnight. Mike and Marinelle put it back in the ocean the next day. I felt a little bad about reeling him in, not knowing that I shouldn't keep it. But I'm pretty sure I'll know next time.