Justin's 3rd Birthday Party

I have finally caught up to the last weekend in August, Justin's 3rd birthday party. I can honestly say that I really didn't do much prior to the day. Since this was a repeat of the same party last year, I changed up a few things, and toned down a lot.

One of my big things is invitations. This year I found Butterfly Sparks on Etsy. She had a Noah's Ark themed invite, and sold me the template. I then got the double sided invite printed at the place of my choosing. So easy, and very reasonable! Here was the front of the card:

And here was the back. I already had this photo of him in a shirt with the number 3, so it was a no brainer to add it to the invite.

We got to Noah's Ark a few minutes early and got the whole place to ourselves. The lifeguards were very laidback this year, and told us that they weren't their to put our kids in time out. So they let us break the rules a bit. Justin loves this place, which made me feel great since I had booked this place back in February, hoping he would still have interest in it.

Derek acted like a kid himself, following Justin around up the slide.

You are never allowed to go down the slide like this on a normal swim day...

...which is why everyone decided to do just that.

I am so thankful that my mom, mother-in-law, & Kaki took photos with me. I kind of shut down after the first 20 minutes, which was nice to actually have others doing for me the very favor I do for everyone else. I didn't feel like working the camera on my son's birthday - I wanted to enjoy myself for once! So all these photos are a combo of our four cameras.

Justin was so excited to see all his buds.

He just kept dishing out the hugs.

My sweet little boy with physical touch as a love language.

Derek & Justin went down the slide several times together.

And then we got everyone together to take a group photo before eating.

Hey, it's for the memories, right?

Then we sang happy birthday.

A quick photo to remind myself that I was present at the party.

I decided on using Memorial Bakery to make cookies. I found a Noah's Ark cookie cutter online and found a design that they could handle decorating. They turned out fantastic - and they tasted great too!

The favors were coloring books that told the story of the real Noah's Ark. Nothing like trying to subtley get the gospel inside the house via your child.

I canned Chick-fil-A this year in exchange for junior lunchables. Yes, nothing like cheap preservatives to feed the kids. One dad asked if I was getting pizza for the adults. Sorry charlie, no food for the adults this year. Would you like a yogurt tube to tide you over?

I even reused the same plates and forks from last year. Smart choices in a tight economy. And I still came home with tons of them. Next year?

Animal crackers and apple crisps for the starches.

After the food, I was tired of wiping my upper lip. So I decided to go down the slide myself. I went over and over again, with all the kids gleefully wanting to go down in my lap. It felt so good to be cooled off.

I took photos of each sibling set and sent a postcard with that photo as their thank you note. It came to me the day of the party. I love it, and so did everyone who received it. Just trying to tie in my photography skills in somewhere.

Then we headed home, with our #3 shirt, of course, to open up gifts. It felt like Christmas to me - I was almost like a kid myself. It was the first time he's truly been so excited. It was lots of fun.

He could barely sit still long enough for a smile.

I think we have been bowling everyday since the party.

Thanks so much to Pap Snuf & Birdie...

...Shane & Kaki....

...and Grandma & Grandpa for helping share in the special day!

A fun time was had by all. Until next year!