Turning 3 is so much fun!

This weekend was V's 3rd birthday. We decided against a big party and planned to celebrate quietly at home. The weather was great, and the day fun filled and action packed. We woke up really early - thanks to our two sun-up risers, rarely do they sleep past 6 a.m. - and had a light breakfast. I had planned to cook pancakes or waffles, V's favorites, but she just wanted "toast." Easy enough!

Jeff got out really early and began mowing the yard. After whipping up some cupcakes for the birthday girl, I set out to get the pool ready. Our neighbors gave the kids this great baby pool and we knew we needed to get the water in it so it could warm in the sun. Five minutes after we had it full, V began asking to get in, so we got swimsuits on both of them, slathered them down with sunscreen and headed to the backyard. Jeff had the brilliant idea of putting the slide over the edge of the pool so they could slide down into it. V took to this right away and in spite of icy cold water, went down the slide no less than 200 times. B wouldn't even put his feet in the water. We tried and tried but it was too cold for him. He had fun watching "Sis-sis" play. I video taped the pool antics but can't upload it to the computer :(

After they tired of the water, we sat on the deck and had popsicles. Thank you Nana and Pops Honey for the new swimsuit and cover-up. She picked out some white flip-flops too. The gift card was a huge hit!





Later, after lunch and naps, we opened presents and had cupcakes. V got a new purple dress, a few stuffed animals, and lots of fancy dress-up accessories. She pranced around with new sunshades, high-heels, lip gloss, denim capris and a was heard on her pretend cell phone telling her Meme "Hey......it's just crazy over here."




These were the cupcakes I made - if you look closely you can see some smudge marks where little fingers left evidence of "tasting." They were displayed on the kitchen table, obviously NOT out of reach like I thought!



Later, after more time in the pool, V had an accident in the yard. Jeff and I figured it was a result of too many cupcakes. That spoiled the fun for a short while. JB has always threatened to "hose them down" in the backyard if something like that were to occur. This gave him his chance. Somehow it wasn't as fulfilling as he'd imagined. (I had to include this, lest the day seem TOO perfect.)

Around lunch we got a call from a realtor that someone wanted to come see the house. JB and I ran around picking up remnants of the birthday celebration and we all left the house late that afternoon. V was worried sick that they were going to get her lipgloss or some other gift, and eat all the cupcakes. She asked us about 20 times were we sure "the people" weren't going to get her birthday gifts or her cupcakes. Although they DID look really appetizing, we were pretty confident "the people" wouldn't eat them.



In conclusion, I really think the no party route is the way to go. It seemed like we got to celebrate all day long and Jeff and I weren't left with an overwhelming feeling of "where are we going to put all this stuff?" at the end. She and B had a great time outside most of the day and JB and I enjoyed sitting in the adirondack chairs out by the baby pool, relaxing. I highly recommend a quiet birthday at home, for toddlers especially! The only tears were when B went down the slide into the cold water - it was a shock!