Amanda's 3rd Birthday-July 27, 2009

We decided to do a backyard celebration for Amanda's birthday. Originally, the plan was to have it at Little Gym, where we had talked about it for months. Then as the time got closer, it just made more sense to have it at home, given that it was summer but also as we've begun lately to simplify our living, we really felt that this was the right thing to do. It actually did end up being lots of clean up work but I am grateful for family and friends....and a home we can build memories in. Menu: corn dogs, pizza, chicken nuggets, carrots and cucumbers with ranch and noodles
In lieu of cake, we made ice cream sundaes with bananas, sprinkles, chocolate syrup and cherries. We put AMANDA candles on a banana!

The kids really enjoyed the jumper as well as the two pools we borrowed...in hindsight, 16 kids was probably a bit much for the small space but they had fun! In fact, there was an after party after the party that carried itself into the house! No nap for Amanda that day!

Minnie and Mickey mouse plates doubled as plates for the kids to use as well as party favors. Young helped me to find them at the store a couple of days before the party.

P.S. Please try to ignore the barren site that we now call our backyard. With everything going on, the backyard is one of those things we've surrendered to.....maybe in a couple of birthdays, you'll see some more green!