The Queen Bee turned 3!

(I tried really hard to get a decent photo of myself and Queenie, but with a 7 year old operating the Nikon, it wasn't happening. This is us today.)

Our little Bee is now three years old. I can't believe it. On the actual birthday festivities included a shopping spree at Old Navy where all three girls (and myself!) got to pick 2 new t-shirts (they were on sale for $4, I had a coupon AND a groupon, so these shirts were actually more like $2.37!). This was followed by a trip to Powell's sweet shoppe where they all got some fun candy (and I picked up a few things for the party). To end our outing, we got Happy Meals at McDonald's--a real treat, since I rarely let them get the toy. An added bonus was that the toy was actually fun (smurfs) and they were out of apples and ended up subbing for 3 fruit and walnut salads which I took home for later use. I guess I got my money's worth. They also got to play on the play place. I hate that, but it was a birthday after all. Later that night we met D at Red Robin and had dinner. Then after baths we all watched Queenie open her presents. Here they are ...

What to get a 3-year old? Well, for THIS 3-year old you can't go wrong with games--Spot it! and Sleeping Queens have both been big hits. We play them multiple times per day, as do the babysitters. Also Grandma and Grandpa Lind gave her a new (plastic) tea set and a Melissa & Doug treat tray (so cute because it is also a shape puzzle). We added Melissa & Doug bugs (see them in the tea set); 2 new cars to add to our collection, a sheep purse and a Hello Kitty bank that Chatterbox and Smidget bought for her at Old Navy with their own money. They even added some coins for good measure. The games were definitely the most popular.

The next day was a Saturday and so we had our little party. It included her 2 BFF's, James and Camden and their older siblings. We also had our sweet cousins, Cami and Spencer, their parents, Mark and Elisabeth, and D's parents. It was a lady bug theme and I made things easy on myself by ordering the birthday in a box. Very smart move.

All ready for the party! When will our guests arrive??

The cute table

D decorated the lady bug cake while I was at a meeting that morning. He got some extra love points for that one!! I was stressing about it.

Some of the candy we added to the kids' boxes. There were also chocolate lady bugs in their boxes and then lots of lady bug themed trinkets. I'm sure the boys especially loved their bracelets!

We started off by coloring lady bug pictures until everyone arrived.

Next we played with the parachute and balls which I bought for the music class I used to teach. We didn't get pictures, but that is always a huge hit with this age. Imagine 50 of those little plastic balls flying all over my living room and you will get the picture.

Next up was a dance party to the song "Buzz Buzz" by Laurie Berkner. All of the kids had bug puppets and when the music went fast they zoomed them, when it slowed down they crawled, and I stopped it periodically and everyone had to find a chair. (Like musical chairs with no losers). So fun. It's amazing how much they like these little things!

Then came Hullabaloo, Queenie's favorite game. It was a little crazy, but worked fine.

Last we played "Ladybug, Ladybug, Spider" (Duck, Duck, Goose) with the puppets again. I think we found a winner. I LOVED watching the kids play this!

Time for cake and ice cream ...

Now for some presents ...

Grandma F made her a cute cape that reverses and says "I'm the Queen" on one side and "Queen Bee" on the other. So appropriate. :)

THIS is what she looked like after opening presents--James and Hope had given her an Olivia dress up kit, which accounts for the plastic crown, the stripey tights, and the red shoes. Also a second red tutu on top of the black and red tutu she was already wearing. Then her cousins gave her that cute dress, which she insisted on putting on top. I think with all the fluffiness, she ende up looking like a munchkin from Oz.

All the family after the party.