Three Cheers for Three!

Hi All,
Today was the long awaited celebration for our three year olds. Not to disappoint, Drew got his fish party, and Bree got her Hello Kitty bash.

I am not going to say the dual themes did not clash, but I'm pretty sure nobody minded. And most importantly, the birthday kids were thrilled!

There was a Kitty banner....

And a One Fish, Two Fish banner....

Balloons for both....

Our sea of balloons....

Floating fish, alongside floating hearts....

Some very big Kitties....

And an even bigger fish to boot....

And life is good!

We hit the "easy" button in the food department and served pizza and breadsticks from one of our local favorites. We complemented the menu with a mini-salad bar, which turned out to be a popular and worthwhile addition.

In the drink department, we served the usual soda, water, and adult beverages. However, I spotted this fountain while online shopping and decided I had to have it. After reading One Fish, Two Fish, we decided to serve Pink Ink. However, my mom brain forgot the pink drink mix, and we had to improvise with Blue Ink. It was all the fun I envisioned!

After lunch, we did gifts and enjoyed each other's company, along with some March Madness on TV.

Let's see - one eye on this game, and one eye on that game. :)

We bid farewell to Logan, who was ready for a nap.

Then it was cake time - time to showcase my "masterpieces". This is the first year I took the plunge and attempted my own cakes. It's easy to tell I am not a professional, but I actually was pleased with the end results.

On a whim, I decided to attempt to model the Dr. Seuss fish, and I couldn't believe how well they turned out! The edible ink marker I used to outline the fish faded prematurely. (I made the fish a few days before the party.) But, I quickly applied a touch up with permanent marker, since we were not going to eat the fish anyway.

I had to look everywhere for the cupcake tins to make the shape of  the mini-Hello Kitty cakes - finally found them on ebay, as it appears they are no longer sold in stores. (It's actually a heart shaped tin that I reshaped.) Thank goodness for ebay!

Back by popular demand, my homemade ice cream sandwiches. If anyone recalls last year's party post, I swore I would not make these again. This is what I get for swearing. :) Who can resist this cuteness? This year's flavors included a strawberry / sugar kitty, chocolate brownie / moose tracks-filled fish (Drew's choice), and a knock-off of my favorite Melting Moments creation - the chocolate chip / vanilla fishwich. Live and learn, the sandwiches are getting a little easier to make. (No doubt, they'll be back next year!)

Happy birthday, Bree! Happy birthday, Drew!

Girlie's candles....

And then the boy's....

Ready to dive in already!

Cake faces - oh yeah!!!

Even our princess gets a little messy when it comes to cake!

Post-cake, we got a closer look at all the toys and games.

Aunties at play....

Even the big kids enjoyed the new toys....

Thank goodness we got a picture with Grandma! She is always so thoughtful to make sure to take plenty of pictures. :)

Cousin Conner lends a hand....

Bree got a RC My Little Pony car which was a big hit. For added fun, it was on the same radio frequency as Drew's RC truck. That should keep the kids (and adults) guessing!

Not sure what was so funny, but this is a laugh that you can not fake....

Bree and Papa share a moment.

And the whale gets some more friendly visitors.

Drew is ready for some serious landscaping. And don't mind Joe; he always needs a nap after his annual all-nighter chaperoning an energetic group of boy scouts.

Oma and Bree decorate her new jewelry box, with Hello Kitty of course!

Photo ops with our guests....

The idea was to take a picture with the whale - he's in there somewhere!

Then the party moved outside - it was a beautiful March day. The grandpas supervised.

The shovels, and even the fishing poles, came out.

Bree is working on the "fingers in mouth", but after a long day, they are pretty irresistible.

Funny family photo of the day - stick in nose and fingers in mouth = fantastic! Can you believe this was the best one of the series? LOL!

We sent our guests home with treat bags - a variety of goldfish crackers (of course!) and my favorite homemade chocolate Chex mix.

The kids were very entertained with the drink fountain. Here's the birthday girl serving herself a bit of punch after the party wrapped up and jammies were on.

And Drew didn't waste any time passing out on the couch once the party ended.

All in all, it was a great day! The kids really got the whole birthday concept this year, much more than last year, which made it that much better. Plus, nobody needed a mid-party nap, other than cousin Logan (who's almost one) and their Uncle Joe! The only thing I would change is, same as last year, I spent too much time on last minute preparations and not enough time sleeping the night before. I got a whopping two hours of sleep between 2 and 5 a.m. This is an improvement from last year, when I got a total of two hours. My mother-in-law decided I will get an extra hour each year. :)

Happy birthday, kiddos! It's going to be a great year!