THREE!

Last week was a momentous occasion for Alastair. After going to plenty of birthday parties in the last few weeks (we have literally been to 5 in the last two weeks) one of them was finally his party. He initially told me he wanted a pink party and then broadened that to ask for a jumping party. As his party was going to be the first week of September in Houston and his mother is 8 months pregnant, I just wanted a cool body of water to submerge myself in. Thus the bayou party was born. We had an alligator lagoon, complete with large inflatable alligator for swimming and a frog bounce house, filled with the cutest frog shaped beach balls that even had little arms and legs. We also had a turtle craft. Our swamp/bayou was curiously devoid of snakes though, a degree of authenticity I was totally fine sacrificing. As I told Kim on the way home from the hospital about 3 years and 5 months ago when we discovered we were having a boy, "There will be no snakes."

Here are some highlights:

I was on a crafting speed binge the day before the party. I made this super cool bunting which I would like to credit with a specific blog, but now I can't remember where I got the idea. It got rained on later in the afternoon and was ruined. Sniff. Plans are in the works for a Halloween version that will NOT be left in the rain.

Alastair was all about the snacks and chowed his way through most of the party.

The highlight for Alastair was something we haven't tried yet in our playgroup parties: organized games. He LOVES "ring around the rosey" and was so excited to play with his friends. Check out the joy on his face. At the "we all fall down" he did a somersault every time.

Next up was the Hokey-Pokey. Here he is, putting his elbow in. We also played his all time favorite song "I Like to Move It" from Madagascar, so there was also some dancing. Stay tuned for future video of that.

The frog cake. For the last three years, I have gotten the cake at Costco and just had them decorate it with white icing. Then I mix up some frosting and decorate it just enough to feel like I am sort of "making" his cake. But it still tastes really good and gets done in time. It should be noted that the women in the checkout stand were very concerned about the austere cake and wanted to make sure I was going to put something on it.

The moment he waited a whole year for.

And after most of the guests left, when Alastair decided NOW it was time to get in the pool. It was really hot and that pool felt wonderful. Thanks to Cynthia for letting a rowdy bunch of two/three year olds crash her yard!