Elliott's Big Birthday

So it's been a few weeks since Elliott turned three...but it took me a while to post...sorry. We celebrated with a big party that to us, almost seemed like a wedding or something. ALL of our family was here! (except for Andrew and Janet - we missed you guys!) That's the first time since our wedding that we had this much family all together in one place. Very fun!

The birthday party was at one of Elliott's favorite places to go...The Incredible Pizza Company. They have food and games that the young and the not-so-young can all enjoy. Elliott got pretty tired by the middle of the day, but he really had fun and is still talking about it.

The morning of his party we woke up to SNOW! The first snow of the season and it actually accumulated enough to make a little snowman. Uncle John brought it to Elliott who loved holding it at first...but by the time I got the camera his hands were cold and he didn't want to hold it anymore.

All the family here for the party.

The 'fun place' as Elliott calls it, has an old car in the lobby when you first walk in. They put a big nametag sticker on the birthday boy and gathered everyone around to sing to him. He was ok for a minute...and then started to cry. We learned a lot about him during this party...he does NOT like being the complete center of attention in a big group! The poor guy cried quite a few times during the day.

The kids did a little pinata and got lots of candy! Isabella was too young to join in the fun...this is pretty much what she did the whole time!

The cake.

One of the highlights of the party was the go-karting! It looked like everyone had fun. Even Peggy went for a spin around the track! :) I'm just sorry I didn't get a good picture of her.

There were lots of other games to play too. Emma's favorite thing is this little merry-go-round. Elliott's friends Noah and Luke tried out one of the video games and I'm a little scared by seeing Jo Lyn with a gun! :)

Back at our house after the party we had another pinata for the kids. The one at the fun place wasn't one you could hit...the kids just pulled strings to make the candy come out. So we got a baseball shaped pinata and Elliott was excited about it the whole week leading up to his party. But when it came time to try it out...he wanted nothing to do with it! He stood at the back of the yard and cried and watched. Eventually he went inside and took a nap while the kids kept hitting...and hitting...and hitting it. It took a LONG time until it finally opened.
And again here's Isa...just enjoying naps in her Aunt Ann's arms.

After Elliott's nap he felt better. But he definitely wasn't happy about mom taking anymore pictures. We tried to get some with Grandma and Grandpa Caven...but he refused to even look at the camera. Oh well. I guess that's just the 3-year old stubborness coming out!

A day or two later, though, he was all smiles as he played with one of his presents. He has become quite proficient at using a mouse now thanks to this little computer. It's fun to see but scary because a few times I've found files moved or missing from MY computer! What did kids do before computers? :)

Thanks to everyone who came and made Elliott's party so fun! It's hard to believe we have a THREE year old! Happy Birthday Elliott!