Today is Large Fry's 3rd birthday. Once I got my mother, the overeager grandma, to calm down her party ideas, the celebration became manageable. Mom and Dad had gone to my cousin's grandson's 2nd birthday party--he and I share a birthday--on the 13th, and so my cousins expressed a desire to come to Large Fry's. Before I knew it, Mom was planning a party at her place without ever talking to me to see if it was feasible! Fortunately, my father, sensible man that he is, backed me up when I told Mom that she'd started planning without consulting the parents pro tem, and my ideas for this momentous event were a simple family get-together with favorite foods, cake and presents. She's three, not sixteen. She does not need a huge, blow-out party like she's had the last two years. She's not really going to remember it anyway.
Bro is now back in PA, and this was his first weekend spent with us and the girls. (It's been...well...interesting.) So it made sense to have the party, such as it was, here. He babysat while the Fries napped, and Hubby and I went to a picnic for his bandmates for a couple of hours. We made it home a few minutes before my parents arrived. We got the Fries up and let them play for about half an hour outside in the pool. Then it was hotdogs for dinner, and Mom had gotten my cousin-once-removed to make the same cake for Large Fry's birthday that she made for her son's.
Here's the cake:
Our birthday girl was quite excited, even though it took more tries than she is years old to blow out the candle. She even sang the happy birthday song to herself.
Grandma cut the cake (I missed a great shot of Hubby trying to play Highlander with a flat cake knife and pretending to lop off Elmo's head). Large Fry was okay with the cake...until Grandma sliced off part of the Elmo frosting-ed leg and placed it on her plate. This did not go over well....
She completely refused to eat the cake with the Elmo frosting, even when it was removed. As both Grandpa and Unckie Hubby had Elmo leg slices, Large Fry looked at my dad and announced, "Papa, Elmo broken!" Dad laughed and had to agree.
Mom said later that we might consider removing any areas of red frosting before trying to serve the cake to Large Fry again (the twin Fries didn't care that they were eating "Elmo").
After we cleaned up cake-encrusted kids, we moved to the living room to open presents. Unckie Hubby had gone to Target one night for a couple of things, and found a bunch of princess stuff in their $1 section. He bought a tutu, a wand, a tiara and barrettes, and some lift-the-flap books (you know, the educational gifts). Large Fry, who happily proclaims she's Cinderella any time I put her in a dress, was delighted to be transformed into a real princess, and ran around waving her wand and shouting a three-year-old garbled version of "Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo!"
Makes a great princess, doesn't she?
And not to be left out...
...Popoki had to come in and check out the action.
All in all, it was a good day.
Bro is now back in PA, and this was his first weekend spent with us and the girls. (It's been...well...interesting.) So it made sense to have the party, such as it was, here. He babysat while the Fries napped, and Hubby and I went to a picnic for his bandmates for a couple of hours. We made it home a few minutes before my parents arrived. We got the Fries up and let them play for about half an hour outside in the pool. Then it was hotdogs for dinner, and Mom had gotten my cousin-once-removed to make the same cake for Large Fry's birthday that she made for her son's.
Here's the cake:
Our birthday girl was quite excited, even though it took more tries than she is years old to blow out the candle. She even sang the happy birthday song to herself.
Grandma cut the cake (I missed a great shot of Hubby trying to play Highlander with a flat cake knife and pretending to lop off Elmo's head). Large Fry was okay with the cake...until Grandma sliced off part of the Elmo frosting-ed leg and placed it on her plate. This did not go over well....
She completely refused to eat the cake with the Elmo frosting, even when it was removed. As both Grandpa and Unckie Hubby had Elmo leg slices, Large Fry looked at my dad and announced, "Papa, Elmo broken!" Dad laughed and had to agree.
Mom said later that we might consider removing any areas of red frosting before trying to serve the cake to Large Fry again (the twin Fries didn't care that they were eating "Elmo").
After we cleaned up cake-encrusted kids, we moved to the living room to open presents. Unckie Hubby had gone to Target one night for a couple of things, and found a bunch of princess stuff in their $1 section. He bought a tutu, a wand, a tiara and barrettes, and some lift-the-flap books (you know, the educational gifts). Large Fry, who happily proclaims she's Cinderella any time I put her in a dress, was delighted to be transformed into a real princess, and ran around waving her wand and shouting a three-year-old garbled version of "Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo!"
Makes a great princess, doesn't she?
And not to be left out...
...Popoki had to come in and check out the action.
All in all, it was a good day.
