The Big 3

Lily's 3rd birthday was recently and it turned out to be such a fun day! Definitely worth remembering (especially on those not so great days, like today). It was her first friend party. We had it in the morning so Lily and her other friends could still get in their afternoon naps, or at least not be grouchy for the lack of them. I totally expected Lily to crash after the party because of all the excitement, and because usually if she misses her nap window she conks out around 4:30 or 5:00...but she just kept going and was so cheerful and delightful for the entire day! I was so amazed about it that I was even able to stay awake and cheerful too :) She wanted to play with every single one of her new toys -- I think it was either the candy or the new toys that kept her awake and happy. All the adults (except me) were off in their beds taking naps and Lily set up a lemonade stand and played with it even though she complained of not having any customers to sell it to.

Uncle Alex finally came along and bought one cup. She gave him change from her new play cash register. She could even run debate cards - this is serious lemonade business!


Anyway - here's some pictures from the party. We finally settled on a candy-land theme because it could be pretty basic with bright colored balloons. I'm all about doing and spending as little as I can for the most effect.  Lily loves candy and often wants to play the game, plus I found these ideas for cute and easy decorations on Parents.com. I just fell in love with the cake and it's 3 ice-cream cones! 

Mine was not as professional as the magazine's, but it still turned out pretty cute! 

My cute 3 year old :)

Determined to try the pink ice-cream cone!

Lily was so excited to try all the things on top of the cake. It was not so easy to cut a pretty piece, but the kids didn't complain!

We had some easy craft/activities - fruit loop candy necklaces to string and chocolate gingerbread man sugar cookies to decorate...

Lily was pretty concentrated on that cookie - it was covered with mounded up frosting and mini m&m's by the time she was through!

We had one organized game - like musical chairs on colored squares, but instead of taking anything away the kid on the color that was picked when the music stopped got a prize.

Lily and Hailey playing on the game board earlier on

All the kids marching around to Lollipop Lollipop...

Everyone got prizes :) 

Mike was determined to get a bounce house and I'm glad he did, the kids had so much fun! 

Pause here to see more fun!

Birthday Smiles!

I think the bounce house made just the right amount of stuff to do to not have too many kids at one time up on the top platform of Grandma's playground set - I was a little worried about that. It's always nice when the kids just make their own fun!

Lily got a little upset in the piñata line when her cousin Isaac told her she was little! -- but it was a good thing we lined them up in order because when it was his turn - the biggest kid, Jake, hit it down with a few expert blows!

 During all this Lily's 5-year-old cousin, Evie, and I separately explained to her that there will always be some people bigger and some people smaller (my dad overheard Evie's version and got the picture). Anyway Lily cheered up pretty quick...or maybe she was just distracted by all the fun, and falling CANDY! 

Hitting the piñata:

The broken ice-cream cone piñata unexpectedly became the two cutest party hats!

 

The kids are what really made them cute! 

Though my brother Andrew pulled it off pretty well too! :)

It was such a fun party and a nice day with family, friends, and my delightful little 3-year-old!

So glad to be the mom to this darling girl! :)

Opening presents and playing the day away:

These dress-up shoes were a hit! Lily's girl cousins all tried them on too.

Aujinay strutting around like she wears high heels everyday!

It was fun to see Lily so excited about her ballet outfit and the couple of other inexpensive gifts I picked out for her. Makes me feel like I know my girl. :)

Thank you so much to everyone who sent gifts, and helped make Lily's day so super-sweet!