Yee Haw! Carson is 3!

This past Saturday we celebrated Carson's 3rd birthday. It really is hard to imagine that our baby is 3, but his real birthday isn't until Wednesday - so I will wait until then to get sad about it! We had the party at a wonderful place called Clay's. It's perfect for kids! We loaded up both cars and squeezed in between the balloons to head to the party!

Carson headed straight out to see the animals while my mom and I set up the party area.

He was freaked out by this chicken. It came up to him and bit his finger, he cried like he was getting trampled by something. Mom and I came running, only to find the chicken running away scared of his screaming. He wasn't hurt at all and it was actually pretty funny.

The cake table.

Notice something missing?? Yep, I really really wanted the cake that I mentioned in this post but I couldn't find anyone to make it for under $100. I'm sorry, my kid is only 3. I refuse to pay $100 on a cake. So we compromised and I made the cupcakes. It cost me $5. The husband was very appreciative!

The party favors and welcome sign.

Such a great party area. The weather was perfect, and just beyond the porch there were plenty of animals to keep the kids busy!

The peacock roaming around was crazy! Did you know that peacocks are super loud? This thing kept yelling and yelling. We seriously had to talk loud to hear each other over this bird!

Feeding the horses. A favorite thing for all the kids.

See Carson feeding the horse? Somehow he didn't get the memo that only horses are supposed to eat the feed. By the time we were ready for cake, Carson didn't seem hungry at all. After further investigation we realized it was because this child ate FOUR cups of horse feed!!! Granted, they were only dixie cup sizes, and probably weren't filled all the way up, but still. Gross! He ever admitted that it didn't taste good. Yet, he kept eating it. Ick!

Sweet friends feeding the horses. Note: not one girl at the party ate the horse feed. Go figure.

Baby sisters arrived in their finest cowgirl attire. Mimi made them their dresses. I mean for real, I could just eat them up!!

But wait! Something was missing! The bows!!!!

Much better!

We attempted to get a family picture. Carson wasn't having it.

I wanted to get a shot of all the kids outfits. My mom did them all to coordinate and I had visions of a cute family picture with livestock in the background. No such luck. I should know by now.

Carleigh watching all the action.

Gigi & Caroline, Mimi and Carleigh.

The restaurant also has a sand pit. The boys said they were digging a hole to China.

Caroline enjoying lunch.

Carleigh eating too!

My dad grabbed his guitar and decided to lead us all in "happy birthday." Carson sang along, then when everyone got quiet and it was time to blow out the candles, he started crying I don't like this! and ran away. Just like that. We all sat there and watched him sprint towards the animals. I wrestled him back, he blew out the candles, then we opened gifts. Guess you never know what will happen at a 3 yr. old party!

Toy Story! His latest obsession!

Caroline and Carleigh fell in love with Woody. They screamed and screamed at him, it was super cute!

Since Carson refused to eat a cupcake (remember? He was full on horse feed!) we decided to let the girls split one.

Let me just say, I would have never given Carson a cupcake when he was their age! Never. But I have learned that with each child I loosen up a little bit more and more. This poor 4th baby will be eating sweets from day one!

I think they enjoyed the cupcakes! Glad they did since the birthday boy could have cared less!

The restaurant also put Carson's name on their banner for the big day. Of course I had to stop and take a sequence of pictures as we left!

Such a fun day! It went by too quickly, and while I did take lots of pictures, there were several things I didn't capture on camera but still want to remember:

- sweet friends coming to help us celebrate (can't believe I didn't get more pictures of his friends that were there!)

- feeding the Llama! The restaurant just got new Llamas and the kids loved them!

- Carson saying oh thank you _____!! after he opened each gift. He was very careful to thank each friend.

His real birthday is on Wednesday and with following our tradition, we are going to take him to the Rodeo for the day. Just Carson, mom and dad. We are looking forward to spending the day with just him!