Hoofprints: Alex's 3rd Birthday Bash!

Hmm...According to my hit counter on the bottom of this page, Quite a few people have been checking my blog today. I'd venture to guess that everyone is eagerly awaiting the birthday blog and the many pictures it has to offer. So without further ado, I give you the birthday blog.

Alex is officially three years old. Wow! Where the heck does time go? I can't believe I have a three year old already. The one thing that has made me realize that my baby is no longer my 'baby' boy is one of the presents he got. Ol' ma and pa decided it was time for him to branch out of the riding toy phase and give his pedaling days a try. So we coughed up the cash and got him his first bike. And boy howdy, does that kid love his bike. It's his new form of transportation to the post office and he is mastering that skill quite quickly. I suspect he will be trying new forms of dare devil tricks before I can say 'emergency room'. Here is is trying out his new wheels.

The party was a success, but it also made me realize that I am sooo finished with the full decked out parties. My stress level goes into the red zone and I spend two days recovering from the craziness. From now on, I'll be trading the invitations and birthday feast for phone calls and birthday cake. But, nonetheless, it was fun. We didn't have many people from my side of the gene pool show up, but nearly all of Josh's family came in from out of town. We enjoyed a nice lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixins and some fabulous birthday cupcakes and soy ice cream. The cupcakes were a hit...even with the fickle adults! We only had three left out of 24! I made an actual cake out of the left over batter for good measure though.

Alex made out like a bandit. Funny thing though. We started the group of kids out in the middle of this living room. But by the time the last presents were opened, they some how herded each other into the farthest corner of the room, behind the couch. No idea how that happened, but it was entertaining attempting to get pictures of it.

This is how Abby started out the party. She pretty much had this look on her face until the party guests faded into the wallpaper. She put on a good face for cake though, so that was nice. She's definitely her mama's girl. Always willing to smile for chocolate or sugar.

When the majority of the guests left for home, we spent the afternoon over at my parents house. My super awesome brother-in-law, drove 3 1/2 hours to bring his three girls to the party. Thanks Ben! You're awesome! And the girls were dead set on riding horses before they left. Alex was pretty excited to show off his cowboy genes (yes...I meant to spell it like that). He has a bit of his mama in him after all. Naturally, I forgot my camera for the horse rides, but my mother-in-law took some photos I hope to get copies of. It was a lot of fun. I'm so glad we have horses for this kind of thing.

The end of the day came and it was time to say goodbye to Josh's remaining family. Before they left, Alex got some good quality reading time in with Grandpa and some good play time with his cousins. It was overall, a wonderful day. The worst part, of course, was the dreaded cleanup. But that too came to an end. (Though I really think I could use a dishwasher in my future. Never had one of those glorious inventions...I hear they are nice.) Alex spent the evening playing with his new goodies and Abby (who, by the way, went the entire day w/o a nap...but was, oddly, in an exceptionally good mood for it) spent the evening being a little monkey and played with the remnants of the party cups and plates.