Today's post is in honor of our youngest and newest crew member Lulu, who celebrated her second birthday on July 20. Here at Old Town Home, a birthday is as good an excuse as any to take a respite from house projects, celebrate life, and to experience an extra indulgence or two.

Maybe I'm just relieved that she reached this important milestone in great health. After all, by Oliver's second birthday last August, had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemo. And sadly we knew he wouldn't reach his third birthday. 

Oliver's second birthday was bittersweet in our household, but Lulu's came with a sense of hope and happiness for the future. Given everything we've been through in the last year with losing a beloved member of our crew, we weren't going to let our baby girl's big day slip by unnoticed. 

So what did we do to celebrate? 

• "Jewelry" of course, by means of an adorable new aqua collar with a fun ice cream cone pattern. What girl doesn't love jewelry on her birthday?
• A new favorite toy. Lulu's toy of choice are "skinneeez" - the stuffed animals that come without stuffing. A new fox joins her stuffingless menagerie.
• Carrot sticks! Weird, I know. But above all other treats, our little ori-pei (shar pei & pug mix) loves to snack on baby carrots.
• A trip to an ice cream social. Yep, seriously. We're "those" kind of people that takes their dog out for ice cream, and yes, they make ice cream for dogs.

More on the ice cream social part. A coworker of mine is the one who told me that one of our favorite stores in Old Town, The Dog Park, was having an ice cream social for dogs this past weekend. The timing was perfect as a last birthday hurrah, and we jumped at the opportunity to pick up a free doggie ice cream for Lulu and take a stroll on such a beautiful day. 

There were several flavors to choose from, but we landed on peanut butter, one of Lu's favorites. She can be a little finicky with treats, and weren't sure if she'd go for it, but it turned out to be a wise choice. Our little girl lapped up the frozen concoction with enthusiasm. Clearly we need to work with her on her table manners, as she had it all over her nose and mouth. But could her smile be any bigger? 

While we were there, she also took part in a treat tasting hosted by the Arlington, Virginia based company Max & Ruffy's. While we chatted with co-owner Kelly Raiser, Lulu gladly sampled their natural organic treats. As a final birthday treat, we took home a box of the Mother Quinoa's Pumpkin Patch flavor.

To work off the ice cream and treats, we took a walk around town and happened on a special event at The Carlyle House. (The historic Carlyle House, for anyone unfamiliar, was built in 1753 by British merchant John Carlyle and is historically significant due to the fact that British General Braddock made the mansion his headquarters in 1755.) 

And a leisurely stroll through their beautiful gardens.  

We then spent the next little while shopping along King Street while Lulu cooled off on the tile floors of the various shops we stopped in, made a few stops at dog water bowls on the way home for further cooling, then we all took a nice nap once we got back to the house. It really made for an almost perfect Saturday. 

We can only hope that our Saturday next weekend can be half as good as this past weekend. I think Lulu had a great time and a great birthday celebration.

Do you go all out for your little one's birthday? (Dogs, cats, or children of course.) What sort of things do you enjoy when celebrating these important milestones?