On May 22nd, Sophie’s first birthday, the princess was awakened by two over-enthusiastic, out-of-tune, video-cam-wielding parents:

Moments later, dressed in her party dress, the groggy birthday girl smiles for the camera:

And guess who came to help the Sophster celebrate her one-ness?????????

Our dear friend and Sophie’s adored “B-Oma”, Brigitte, hosted us with a lavish lunch and homemade birthday cake:

We girls “don’t wanna work, we just wanna bang on the drum all day!”:

Time for a birthday party! Sophie’s 2 grandmas made all the cakes:

Mom brought the decor all the way from So Cal:

Opa and Grandma help Sophie try out her new wheels:

Oma lends a hand too:

Sophie’s guests relax before the cake is brought out:

Soenke’s Aunt Elgard always looks tres chic!:

Here comes the cake!

Mommy tries to quickly extinguish the candles before Sophie’s quick hands make contact:

Aunt Lena shows Sophie her new Lufthansa jet:

Time for the birthday girl to eat her sugarless banana cake! (bleah!)

Here comes the first bite…

Not so sure about that…

Ok, we think we like it!

Sophie’s great grandma comes by for a chat:

The gift table looks festive:

Jochen and Sabine (Soenke’s aunt & uncle) help distribute the gifts:

Sophie is not sure what to do with gift wrap…

But she does know she will be looking cute in her new outfit!:

Sophie adds to her baby fine china collection:

No, it doesn’t rattle!

Here come the summer pool supplies!:

Sophie is now a high-flying a Disney shareholder (with her fancy new stock certificate!)

A sporty and chic new car seat!

Soph takes a ride in her new “bollerwagen” (complete with airbags!)

And finally, sun-seeking guests take the party outside to our new (in-progress) terrace:

Thank you to all who called, emailed, wrote, and participated in Sophie’s big birthday! She’s not exactly sure what all the fuss was about, but sure did enjoy being the center of the universe for a few hours!

In recent months, we experienced a glorious 3 weeks in So Cal while a late winter continued to drag on in Hamburg (thankfully, the sun is now back in business here in Deutschland). While it was primarily a working trip for me, we did squeeze in some R&R which is pictorally documented below.

————————————————————-

Sophie went through a short phase where daddy’s belly was the only comfortable place to slumber:

A few marvelous afternoons were spent at beautiful Crystal Cove (just north of Laguna Beach):

As a sidenote, Crystal Cove is known for the famous California beach cottages which were saved from destruction and are now being slowly restored under the oversight of the California National Parks:

At this cottage, the movie Beaches was filmed:

A sweet shot:

Soenke and Sophie do what they do best!

Enjoying the sunshine:

My beloved Pacific Ocean:

Then, off to my bro & sis-in-law’s casa for a birthday party:

Since the party’s theme was “Superhero”, Sophie put on her crown (there’s got to be SOME superhero out there that wears a crown, right?)

And, finally, we leave you with a few videos: