Partying With 3 year olds

Turns out when I take a break from blogging, I turn to food. So 4 unnecessary Ritz crackers and two slices of cheese later, let's get back to chatting, shall we? It's been way too long. Let's get on with it. 


So, that birthday party went by in a blur. Seriously. One minute I'm making Mickey shaped invites with weeks to go, next thing we're cleaning little hand frosting shapes off the sliding glass door amidst a pile of wrapping paper and new toys. That's pretty much what all of life feels like, so I'm bummed it's taking me this long to document more of the moments. Let's hope I recall the good stuff.


I want to preface the post by saying that Keith took most of the pictures at the party. I don't want to give the guy a hard time, he takes some good pictures, but they're not of the things I noticed at the party, and that makes it hard to share my thoughts with you. So I'll share real pictures, and my mental pictures. Not sure what a mental picture is? Let our favorite couple from The Office tell you: 



K. Ready? 


Mental Image: Very excited Grady and Cole waiting for "our fwiends" to arrive at the door. 


And their friends did arrive and we all dove into our craft, which was decorating our capes. Mena is so stylish. 

Our good friend Justin dove right in with the kids. Grady wanted to make sure he got the stamp on the cape, notice the two handed press. Adam from Camp Keller in the background, and Alex, Mena's twin on the right. Yes, naturally we have lots of twin friends. 


Mental Image: So many of the little ones getting more excited about the shapes of the stamps than the actual stamping process. OOOOH. Bugs! Oooooh. Aminals!

Camp Keller's girl, Amanda, helps Cole sport his cape. I was really surprised by his color choice.


Mental snapshot: Cole picking up every stamp and yelling very excitedly what the shape was, "oooooh, CATTTAPILLA!", then "ooooooh, wadybug!", "oooohhhh, zeba!". 

My buddy, baby Alex, who really is now big brother Alex, was too cool for these capes.


Mental Snapshot I wish I had: A shoulder hug from Alex. He's just too much of a big boy for that sort of cuddling, you know. Sadness.

Grady tried on the cape. 


Mental snapshot: Several kids, and perhaps a parent, running with their capes and their hands stretched out in front of them, like Superman.

Several of the kids, after a few minutes, did not want their capes and insisted the parents wear them. Cole was one of the kids, I was one of the parents. I look good in green, so it was OK. 

And here is another twin friend, Morgan. Her poor brother was sick and couldn't make it. Don't worry, Mason, we'll have some fun tomorrow when you come to play. 

Mental Snaphot from several weeks ago when we watched the double M's: Mason tugging on my leg (after eating a plateful of mashed potatoes, carrots and meatballs that would satisfy a high schooler), and asking for "dinnah".


Me: "You just ate a whole plate of food"
Mason: Blank Stare, then "I want dinnah." with a look that said, FEEED ME! Must be a growth spurt. 


Anyway, here is his gorgeous momma and sister. Can't wait to spend some time with a little girl this weekend! 

Another Fwiend is Harper, below. She's checking out the stamps and ink pads, and was likely trying to make a cape for her little brother. Not sure. 

Adam is such a good sport, he wore his crown for the longest time.


Mental Snapshot: Little Piper's littler sister Gracie is rough with these hats. I was standing in one spot stapling hats together, and every few minutes Piper would bring Gracie's hat back to get fixed. I'm not sure what Gracie was doing with that hat, but seeing the look on Piper's face when she brought the torn hat back was priceless. She didn't say it, but I could tell she was thinking "I can't explain how I'm related to that paper hat assassin". Haven't we all felt that way about family at some point?

Next up was scavenger hunt. the kids were searching for the birthday candles that mysteriously "disappeared". They had clues to follow and that turned into them mostly running back and forth. Some of the kids "got it" and were excited to find the candles, some just ran back and forth with the rest of the group. Still fun.


The group arrives for another clue. 

Then  runs back that way! Follow Keith and Adam, everybody.

And now back this way. Note Cole's excellent running form, he's the blue striped shirt on the far right. No, not gray and white, that's Keith. The little dude one over. 

Closing in on the location of the candles...

Does Melissa and baby Kate have the candles? Maybe so. Or maybe not. 

And then all of the sudden the candles were found, which meant we needed to get some cake eaten, or risk a mutiny. 

Mickey cupcakes for the little dudes.

Followed by quality backyard playing by all. 

And as quickly as it came, the party was over. Aunt Angela and gang lingered a bit so the cousins could play. Cousin Logan opted to sleep.

But woke up a little later to chill with Uncle Keith. 

And the three older cousins posed for a photo. Seriously, this is the best picture of the Three Banditos I could get. Sorry, GG.

Uncle Keith and two nephews.

And some kisses for Baby Wogan. A perfect ending to a great party.