Party!!

Hannah turned 3 today!  We had a great mother-daughter day together, and then finished it off with a family birthday clebration.

We had to wait for the cupcakes to cool before we could frost them, so I asked Hannah what she would like to do…“Go see the puppies!”  Our mall has a dog-only pet store, that Hannah loves to visit.  She loves watching at all of the puppies play.  Thankfully, she does not yet understand that you could, theoretically, purchase one of those puppies to take home…She wants a puppy, but she still seems to be under the impression that this shop is a mini-zoo, and as long as just looking keeps her happy, then we’ll go look.  So, we spent the afternoon wandering the mall, looking at the puppies, visiting the “Mickey Mouse” store, and the toy store.  When I asked if she was ready to go home, she said no.  She was looking a little tired, and with the grandparents, and great-grandparents coming over for dinner, I was anticipating a late night for her, so I’m sure she caught the implied “naptime” in my suggestion.  So, we ran to the grocery store instead, and picked up a few last minute additions to dinner!

 

Grandma and Grandpa (Thompson) came over for dinner, and brought Hannah’s great-grandparents with them…Niecie and Papa Joe…Hannah has seen Niecie before, as she has visited a few times, and calls her “Grandma Niecie.”  But, this was Papa’s first visit to California since Hannah has been around.  She promptly re-named “Grandpa Niecie”. 🙂 (Well, it makes sense if you think about it!)

Dinner was Hannah’s choice – grilled hot dogs.  She didn’t care too much about sides, so I just added some cantaloupe (which, she is, apparently, not a big fan of!  Oops!) and potato chips.  We kept it simple.

After dinner, it was time for presents!  Hannah was extremely patient as watched the pile of presents growing in the living room!  There were presents from Mommy and Daddy, of course, and presents from all the grandparents.  Her Texas grandparents sent presents, which she didn’t know about until this afternoon, and then Grandma and Grandpa arrived with more!  She was probably a little overwhelmed by it all, but very excited!  She kept saying, as she was opening each package, “Oooh…What could it be?”  Or, “Oh!  What is this?”

She begged to sleep with the kitty that Grammy and Grampy (Tarbell) sent…and has already started coloring on her Magna-Doodle (also known as “the coloring thing”) from Grandpa and Granny (Whitley).  We haven’t attempted Candy Land yet, but she loves Chutes and Ladders (which she got for Christmas), so she is excited to learn a new game…and I am actually excited to teach it to her…  She also got furniture for her dollhouse, “princess stuff,” and a tricycle from Grandma and Grandpa…which she got to ride around our street for a little while, and was quite sad to come in when it started getting dark.  It took the promise of birthday cake, and another ride when she got up in the morning to convince her to come inside!

She blew out the 3 candles on her birthday cake (with some help from Grandma), as we sang “Happy Birthday.”  She then proceeded to pick out each colored chip, and then lick off the remaining frosting – leaving the requested chocolate cake on her plate!  (I was tempted to do the same thing…It wasn’t that the cake was bad, I think we just both prefer the frosting!)

The birthday girl got to go to bed a little later than usual…Partly due to the company, the excitement, and the sugar…but mostly due to the fact that she did not want to stop playing with her new toys!   But, Sleeping Beauty needs her rest.  She has a big day ahead of her tomorrow…Because we are having a Princess Birthday Party!! 

(There are more – yes, more – Birthday pictures here.)