it's a party

A couple days before his party, he got a present from Jaymee in the mail. He was so funny about it. He opened the Hex Bug first and he said "Look mom, it's one of those things!" 

She also sent him something more practical (not for him, more for me), new jammies. He was just as excited about them as he was the bug! "OH MOM! DO YOU WANNA SEE WHAT'S IN HERE?" Haha. 

I had to throw these in, they crack me up. They put Jason's mustache to shame. 

Elliott hated it. 

Saturday, Elliott's actual birthday, we had another birthday to go to, but Ethan did help me mix up the cake so I could frost it Sunday. 

Sunday was party day. Erica, Carson, Laura and Shayna all came up from Billings to come see us. It was so fun having them here.

I made this pirate out of felt with removable pieces. It looked like a pirate Boy George. Luckily, the kids don't know who that is.  

Here's the "booty".  

And here's the cake. I'm pretty dang impressed with myself. Here's the link to the place I found it and the instructions. It doesn't have the pattern for cutting it out, so I just faked it. 

Happy birthday to Elliott.  

Time for cake and ice cream. We have met so many great people here, and including our friends from Billings, we had near 20 people in our house. It was incredible! 

All the kids got bandannas, pirate hats, eye patches and hooks and knives (toys). They had a great time being pirates. 

Elliott wasn't so jazzed about Laura and the camera (thanks again!). 

Time for gifts. TONS of great stuff. What a lucky kid. 

Ethan was the "hype-man". He was excited about every gift.  

Harlo had her party the day before, and couldn't understand why these presents were not hers too. It was funny to watch her. She was just as excited as Elliott. 

Tech Decks! Look at Ethan's face.  

This card is STILL his favorite part of this gift. The money inside was nothing compared to the "Cars" card that sings.  

After the party, we were exhausted, but who can say, no, to some swimming? Erica invited us over to the hotel for some pizza and swimming. All the kids had so much fun. It really made me miss our Billings "family".  

Boys.......... *sigh*

When it was time to go, Ethan and Elliott dog piled on Laura (they love her), and Carson climbed on too. They were all laughing so hard. 

Monday morning Ethan and Elliott came downstairs and broke into the new games before school. Then as soon as I got home with Elliott after pre-school, he dug them back out and we played games together for a long time. We put together some scary monsters. 

Then we did some "Go Fish".  

We also played with the hex bugs, tech decks and had a nerf fight. Seriously, the kid made out!

It's so hard to believe he is 3 years old. I don't know why, 3 does come after 2, but it is just slipping by. He's definitely becoming a big kid, and is so much fun. I am excited to see who he becomes over the next year, but I hope it goes a little slower. :) 

Thanks again to everyone who came to his party and sent gifts. He is a lucky kid to have you all in his life.