It Started With A Song

I was lured out of my slumber by the sounds of singing.  It was going to be a good day.

And then it dawned on me: she's three.  My little girl has started out her third birthday with a song, and we felt the need to reciprocate.

Opening her bedroom door, The Hubbs and I saw her lying on her back in bed, happily singing to herself.  We eased our way into the room, singing "Happy Birthday."  She grinned and launched herself at us, giving us each a great big bear hug and a sloppy kiss.

***

The day before her birthday, The Princess's Uncle D came up for a visit.  It was wonderful to see him, and he came over early enough in the day that the boys had all sorts of time to hang out.

When I came home from school, D was there, and we all decided to head out for some lunch.  At one of our favorite local haunts, we had a great meal.  Our server gave The Princess some crayons and a picture to color, and she did quite a number on it.  It's not on the fridge yet, but it will be.

Around the time we were ordering our last drinks, the waitress popped over to our table and told me that she had overheard us talking about The Princess's birthday.  She wanted to know if it would be okay for the staff to sing to her and bring her a special birthday girl sundae.

Naturally, I was all for it.  I figured the worst case scenario would be asking them to sing a little more quietly than normal, but we tried it without any modifications and it worked out great.  The Princess thought it was hilarious to have a group of singing grown-ups competing for her attention.

When they were done with the song and dance, we were left in relative silence.  I was finishing my lunch, and figured I'd help The Princess with the sundae in a minute.

And then D pointed out the fact that she was eating her sundae.  Alone.  With a spoon.  And using it the right way.

I know, right?  How freakin' cool is that?!

***

Anyway, Uncle D had to leave in the morning, and we hung out with the princess for a while before cleaning up for the family party.  Fortunately, we had done some straightening up the night before, so it wasn't too bad.

Most of the direct Hubbo Family made it up here for the princess's big day: Nana, Grampy, Great Grammie and Great Grampy were all here to join in the fun.  It was a beautiful day, so we all hung out in the yard.  The Princess was ecstatic to have so many grown-ups around to do her bidding.  She must have spent half the day in her wagon, being carted around like a princess.

We had to break in the middle of the fun for some grub, of course.  Great Grampy has been raving about the local place's taco pizza since we all had it for my birthday a few weeks ago, so that was the food of choice again today.  You won't hear any complaints from us on that one!

The presents...good Lord, the presents!  Unfortunately, we didn't have the presence (ha!) of mind to take a pic of the pile before digging in.  The biggest thing about the presents?  The Princess actually removed the paper herself.  For the first time ever.  She sat there through the entire opening process and pulled the paper off of each individual package, sometimes even paying attention to what was inside.

What was inside, you ask?  Mr. Potato Head (with a converter kit to make him Mrs. Potato Head...he's a little confused), a Melissa & Doug "Make Your Own Jewelry" kit with wooden beads and strings, a Fisher Price tea set, a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" Colorform set (which is waaaaaayyyyyy cooler than any Colorform set I ever had growing up.  This sucker is 3-D!), a Melissa & Doug set with two wooden "paper doll" girls and all the clothes they could ever want (it's magnetic.  Coolest.  Idea.  Ever.  I'm so playing with it as soon as I finish this post!), a Magnadoodle, some really cute clothes, a few books, and lots of crumply goodness in the form of wrapping paper.

We do things kind of backwards around here: presents first, cake later.  Nana had picked up an adorable cake at Jewel, which she had customized with The Princess's name and age.  On her way out to the car from the store, she dropped it - I'm talkin' completely upside-down, people - and freaked out.  She squinched her eyes shut, turned it back over, and risked a peek.  It was fine.  Talk about luck!

After digging into the yummy cake, it was back outside to play with bubbles, take a leisurely drive, and walk down to the lake.  Uncle Hambone even showed up!

"Right here, Momma!  Put the bubbles right here!"  This adorable dress, by the way, was a present from her Auntie J and Uncle A.  We missed you guys today! 

"Hey, I'm drivin' here!"

Swingin' at the park, with Uncle Hambone's boat in the background:

A couple of attempts at a family picture...not too bad, right?  Boy, are we pasty.  :)

I think this is where we'll have to do the family pics going forward...I really like the lake in the background.  Thanks, Nana, for taking these for us!

Sometimes a gal just needs to curl up with a good book to relax.

Eventually, the party had to come to an end.  The Hubbo Family grandparents all made their way to the door, and we promptly changed into fat pants.  Nothin' like a leisurely evening of playing with a brand-spankin'-new arsenal of toys, right?

Nana, Grampy, Great Grammie, and Great Grampy...and, of course, Uncles D and Hambone: thank you all so very much for making The Princess's third birthday so special.  We love you all!