Grace's Third Birthday Party!!!

Grace Elaine Turner turned three years old on Tuesday, April 15, 2014.  We have enjoyed these past three years more than we ever could have imagined.  Jimmy and I adore Grace, even when she acts like a "threenager" which has picked up in full force recently.  We were so happy that it worked out to have Grace's birthday party AND Wesley's baptism (blog post to come) all in the same weekend.  Both sides of the family came in town, we had a nice morning birthday party at Bolton Park, and an afternoon of opening/enjoying birthday presents.  Prepare yourself for some serious birthday pictures.  I took some, and Lindsay took some even better ones :)

THANK YOU Lindsay for the beautifully yummy cupcakes!  Grace wanted "pink bow cupcakes" this year so I just went with a light Minnie Mouse theme with mostly pink and black decorations. 

Jimmy's mom bought this life size Minnie Mouse balloon when we went to pick up the order.  Grace LOVED it.  She talked to, danced with, and played games with this balloon until it disappeared (after deflating!) one night.

It's getting simpler and simpler each year.  Next year, I think I'll do even less!  A 10 a.m.-12 p.m. birthday party time rocks in April!

I re-used these from Grace's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party last year.  I just changed out the red for pink and added a bow with ribbon I had leftover from her FIRST birthday party. 

Party favors: Bolton Park is basically on top of a large sand pit.  These sand pails worked out nicely; thanks for the idea Gretchen!

I've had several friends collect donations for their kids birthdays.  I decided to jump on the bandwagon.  Grace always gets gifts from family so I knew she wouldn't need a bunch of extra birthday gifts from everyone that was invited to her birthday party.  We decided to make a donation box for things to go to the Children's Home in Winston-Salem.  After finding out the needs, I put an insert in her birthday invitation with ideas of toys and clothing sizes.  Thanks everyone for the donations!  We took the donations to the Children's Home on Grace's actual birthday.  They were so grateful!

Not the best lighting because of where it was positioned, but I did buy this off of Etsy for pretty cheap.  I strung it together with pink ribbon.

 

Grace an Savannah Jane

Happy Birthday to YOU!

This girl is 3!

Let's get to the playing part (which is what every kid came for anyways!).   I highly recommend having a birthday party at a park!  If you live in the city, you can rent any covered shelter/playground area for the day.  Bolton is considered a large space and was only $45 for the day!

 

Maddie and Grace (pre-school buddies)

Harper, styling.

3/4 of the Windley clan + Jimmy

 

Aunt Cindy pushing Grace

Grace and Harper swinging

Grace and Brooke swinging

Sweet Samuel

It was just the perfect park for a party!  There was stuff for older kids, stuff for smaller kids, and sand everywhere.

The Kunz family and Sarah Kittner (who had her second baby girl today!)

Look at all the cute kiddos!

Wade, showing everyone how it's done.

Neighbors!  The Cloers and the Clarksons (with their newest addition to their family, JP)

Grace and Gray:  Remember that arranged marriage we talked about a long time ago, like when Gray was born?  He's almost two.  Cutest couple at the party, haha!

Jimmy and Chris

Grace and Ansley

Wade, Will, and Jack (no idea who the little girl is, haha!)

Wesley enjoyed the back of his eye lids during the party.

 



Kellen and Grace

Hailee, Grace, Hannah, and Jenny

So glad Lindsay took some family pictures!  This is our first one since Wesley was a few weeks old.

Also glad we have a picture with the infamous Cloer family.  Uncle David and Aunt Lulu are pretty much Grace's second parents :)  We love them!

Jimmy's parents.  We were glad they were able to make it!

 

After some R and R for everyone at the house, it was present time.  Grace got a tricycle from Aunt Cindy and Uncle Linton.

Memere (my mom) and Aunt Cindy with the chunky monkey, as we like to call Wesley.

Uncle Linton pushing Grace on her new set of three wheels.  This thing is awesome because of the handle!  You can take it off, or leave it on.  The handle even takes control of the handle bars in case of a tricycle emergency.  You can also adjust the seat.  Grace is already pedaling on her own.  This will also be a great hand-me-down for Wesley.

Opening presents from Nana, Grandpa, mommy, daddy, and Uncle Jordan.

Uncle Jordan skyped in from California for present time.

This was from my brother, Uncle Jordan; think she likes it?  The only problem with this toy is that Grace loves it so much that she spins, and spins, and spins....without stopping.  She threw up her lunch one day after spinning for too long.  That was fun.  She LOVES this toy.

The big reveal from Memere and Pepere!  Grace now has her own mini BMW if you want to go for a spin :)  It's a double seater...come on, you know you want to! 

 

PHEW.  That was one fun, busy, and exhausting day!  Thank you everyone for loving Grace so much.  It warms my heart to see how many people care about our little lady.