Ready!
We had invited just a few little friends (and their families) over for the party (which is exactly how we like it!). The morning of, one of the moms texted me with photos of her kids sporting brilliant cases of pink eye. Yikes! They actually ended up driving up to the front of our house for my dad (SUPER PEDIATRICIAN MAN!) to step out and confirm the diagnosis. It was so sad...so we packed up some cupcakes, and I broke into Claire's pinata and pulled out some treats for them (it's a pull pinata, not the kind you have to bust open- no worries). Claire was sad when I told her, but she was happy that two other little friends were able to come by (i.e. no extreme disappointment or meltdown).
Party prepping.
She really enjoys attempting to blow up balloons.
The party was loosely (and I stress LOOSELY) themed on Pixar's Cars movies because they are Claire's favorites. Much like her previous birthday parties (her second birthday and her first birthday), this wasn't Pinterest-worthy, but it did get the job done. I reused the pull pinata that I made for last year's birthday, we had cupcakes and snacks, there were plenty of balloons to be batted around, and Kat had sent a series of pop-up tunnels that were, frankly, the star of the show. We set the tunnels out in our "back yard," and the kids had a blast climbing in and out, pushing balloons and balls through the tunnels, and generally running around. THANK YOU, KAT! All the parents send our thanks.
This is as Pinterest-y as I got, coordinating paper products and serving bowls with the colors of a traffic light (you know...to go with the Cars theme). However, please note the kids' cups on the left side of the picture. They are definitely the cups that come with the kids' meals from Moe's. Although, I did stick festive paper straws in them, so there's that. Our snacks were cupcakes, grapes, and chips with color-coordinating dips: red salsa, yellow queso, and green guac.
The tunnels! And, thankfully, none of the kids bonked heads or anything while crawling through. Whew. We had two doctors on hand, but I'm pretty sure no one had suture supplies.
Doesn't that look like fun? You know...for small children...
Grandpa (Bill) wearing the tunnels and providing hilarious entertainment.
Claire's attempt to wear it. Also hilarious.
My parents' gift to Claire was this awesome, kid-sized picnic table. It's a multi-function table (we can take out a panel, opening up a trough that you can put a little garden in or sand or pea gravel to play with. It's nifty.), and we set it up for the kids to eat their snacks and cupcakes at, which turned out to be the perfect spot. Other than snacks and balloons and tunnels, we didn't really plan anything else (but really...they're 3-year-olds. They don't need lots of programming.), and it worked out marvelously.
She really likes my dad...this was her "cheese" face. And her, "please leave me alone with my cupcake" face.
Eating at her new table!
She really likes my dad...this was her "cheese" face. And her, "please leave me alone with my cupcake" face.
Same thing goes for my mom.
We pulled out the pinata from last year and changed the picture on the front from Curious George to Lightening McQueen and stuffed it full of confetti, suckers, toy cars, and crayons. It didn't last long, but it was a hit. Also, Blogger isn't letting me upload the fantastic video I got of Claire talking about her pinata, so if you follow me on Instagram, scroll back a few posts and watch. It's hilarious.
So, this is actually a screen shot of a video my dad took of the pinata, but I think it's a pretty good shot. There are no bats involved in a pull pinata; there's a flap that I cut into the bottom of the box and threaded ribbons through. Only one ribbon is knotted, so the kiddos pull on the ribbons, most of them sliding out easily, and when they pull on the right one, the knot provides enough resistance to open the flap and release the treats. Less messy and less dangerous.
Our mailman is incredible, and when he leaves packages on our front porch, he'll leave little treats for Claire, too. This is definitely a perk of befriending the mail carrier. He often leaves blow pops, which I tend to collect, rather than just give Claire whenever they appear. I like to keep them as legitimate treats so that I can use them to my advantage. I filled up the pinata with several that I had collected, and Claire THOROUGHLY enjoyed going to town on her sucker. Bonus: we saw our mailman pull into our neighborhood during the party and were able to give him one of Claire's cupcakes!
The party invitation clearly said, "no gifts, please," and everyone brought a gift anyway. The best laid plans... It was very sweet and generous, and we're thankful for kind friends. She also opened family gifts, post-party and had quite a big time playing with (read: scattering about) her new treats with her grandparents. Note: the grandparents were all exceptional sports over the weekend, taking her on walks, helping her ride her tricycle, wearing the tunnels as a costume, blowing up balloons, singing countless songs, and watching Curious George and Superbook. Bill and Barbara brought her a cool set of play food for her kitchen that also doubles as a counting game; she and her little girl friends had a blast "cooking" with them and generally scattering them around the house at our baby shower the next day (more on that later).
So, the verdict on the birthday party is that it was an unqualified success in Claire's book, which was exactly what we wanted.
One of the presents. The girls were so cute during this exchange.
This is the closest I got to a group shot of the kiddos.
Opening the new kitchen supplies.
So, the verdict on the birthday party is that it was an unqualified success in Claire's book, which was exactly what we wanted.
Happy Birthday, dear Claire! Happy Birthday to YOU!
And just to keep the fun alive, all the grandparents stayed on Sunday, going to church with us and getting to see where we worship (they all enjoyed it, whew) and staying for our baby shower (I'll blog about that soon). Bill and Barbara headed back home Sunday evening, and my parents stayed until Monday evening. This was a good process so that Claire didn't go into immediate Grandparent Withdrawal Shock. Thanks, Team!
After church with Nana and Poppy.
This is super blurry, but I love this shot of my dad and Claire playing Super Heroes while Claire wears her new Super Girl shirt from Ray Ray (my sister-in-law). I'm telling you- the grandparents are GAME.
Monday morning Home Depot shenanigans. We know how to have FUN around here.
See? How much fun is this?
Closing out the long weekend with a little pre-airport drop off Mexican.
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