Happy Birthday Amanda

It's official!  We now have a 3 year old ruling our roost!  Amanda turned 3 this last week and we partied hard this weekend.  It seems like Amanda's birthday is always around Easter, so we didn't focus on Easter this year as much as we probably should have (bad, I know... we'll try better next year).

This birthday was really fun for Amanda because it was the first year she really understood what a birthday is and was so excited for it!  We decided quite a while ago that she wanted a Candyland party and she helped plan things out (well, she looked on Pinterest with me for ideas.)   She loved looking at pictures and made sure to tell me what she liked!

The morning of her party came and she was so excited!  I couldn't get her to eat breakfast, and when she came in and saw all the treats and decorations in the kitchen, she started hyperventilating a little.  She would say things like, "Oh!  That's cute!"  Here's a picture of the spread:

I must admit that I had a little too much fun with the cake pops and I am totally hooked!  My mom and dad gave me the cake pops book and my dad made me the stands for Christmas!  I have been putting off trying them because the recipes I had called for store-bought frosting, that I really don't like.  The recipes said that the consistency might be wrong if I used home-made.  Anyway, I discovered the best cake pop recipe book ever!  The recipes are seriously so yummy!   If you are interested in making the best cake pops ever, check out the book: 101 Gourmet Cake Bites.  I just checked it out from the library, but I think it needs to be in my cookbook collection.

Okay, back to the party!  I put my family to work, as usual, and it all came together very well!  My sister and her husband drew a life-size Candyland board on our basketball court.  It turned out so cute!

 We thought we would have the kids play a life-size version of the Candyland game, but we never got it going because the kids were having way too much fun on this:

My sister-in-law always finds the best deals and bought this bounce house a couple of years ago.  The brought it down from Rock Springs for us and we were so glad!  It was a hit!!!

After hot dogs (one of Amanda's favorite foods) it came present time.  Amanda was very serious about opening them!

Of course, we ended the party with cake, ice cream, and treats.  I let the kids take home a bag of goodies, and thought afterward I should have included a toothbrush as a party favor.  :)

As if we weren't worn out from partying all  morning, we decided to go down to the rec center and go swimming, another Amanda favorite!

Lila actually LOVES to swim too, but she fell asleep on the way to the pool.  Grandma "Blue Car" (my mom) sat with her while the rest of us swam.  She is such a good sport. Lila did get to swill a little, just before we left the pool.

I forgot to bring dry clothes for Lila to change in to, so I gave her my T-Shirt.  Isn't she cute!?

That night, Charles, Lex, and little Audrey joined us.  It was so fun to have Audrey and Lila together!  I hope they will be good buddies!  Here they are with their smokin' Grandma!

Needless to say, it was a very busy, but fun, weekend.  I think it wore us all out!  Both girls got a little sick, and poor Billy got hit the hardest.

We definitely won't do such a big party every year, but it was fun this year.  Amanda is still talking about her party and says that it was "so crazy and fun."  I had to reign myself in quite a bit, due to budget and time, because Pinterest makes me want to go crazy with decorations and games and stuff!  I just need to save some ideas for other years!

I still can't believe little Miss Amanda is 3!  She looks so grown up these days!  I love the cute things she says and does and we can't imagine life without our spunky little Amanda Kaye!