Reilly M. : Beach Birthday

WILMINGTON NC PHOTOGRAPHER TIFFANY ABRUZZO

  It's so crazy what a difference a year makes! Last year, Reilly, the fam & I headed out to Oak Island for a beach birthday shoot to celebrate Reilly's 2nd birthday.

   Lots of fun, of course, but it's amazing to me how little cake actually made it to her mouth vs. her cute outfit!

Orange Frosting EVERYWHERE! (2012)

  This year, Reilly was happily enjoying the beach, feeding the seagulls, collecting shells on the beach and just generally enjoying her day.

  Which of course ended with a bright yellow cupcake and surprisingly little frosting on her clothing :) ​

She was entirely too cute with her yellow birthday cupcake. Love this girl! 

   As a child, I would go to the beach with my grandparents and always make a spectacle of myself as I threw slice after slice of bread into the air, surrounded by a ridiculous amount of seagulls. One of the highlights of my childhood memories, and I still like to feed the seagulls to this day. For this shoot, I thought it would be fun to get Reilly in on the act, and to take a few seagull inspired shots for her big day.

  Well, apparently my memories seem to have omitted that just a handful of bread can and will bring out a TON of seagulls!

(INSERT SCENE FROM "THE BIRDS" HERE)​ 

  So many seagulls came to our bread slice buffet that we had to have Reilly's Dad wander down the beach to give us a little breathing room! 

  Thank goodness for those Dads who are good sports :) ​

  And speaking of good sports... when Reilly decided she wanted to play "Barbershop" with her Grandpa G, and pulled just a BIT too hard on his hair, let's just say I was "camera-ready". Like I said, definitely a good sport :) ​

​Happy 3rd Birthday, Reilly! I have loved watching you grow up with my lens :)