Ready, Set, Go: Happy 3rd Birthday to Munchkin!

Ok, so this is being posted MONTHS late. Sorry!

Munchkin began asking for a CARS birthday just days after her 2nd birthday. Consequently, I always knew her 3rd birthday would be Cars themed.

We had such a blast!

We had planned on making an outdoor track in the backyard and having the kids all make their own "race cars" from cardboard boxes and some creative odds and ends, and having races in the yard.  The weather was beautiful all week (for April in Northeast Ohio, anyway), but the day of her birthday it was supposed to SNOW!  and snow it did.  :-(

Brad and I got creative the night before after looking at the weather forecast.  We bought some masking tape and black trash bags, cut up the bags into long strips, and taped them to the floor to make it look like a road.  Then we taped red, yellow, and green balloons together to look like traffic lights along the road.  When Munchkin woke up the next morning to discover her "road" she happily exclaimed, "Santa brought me my Cars, birthday!"  She followed it through the house all day.  It was a big hit with the party guests, too.

These are the best pictures of the "road" we built through the house.  I thought we had better ones, but they must be on a different camera... darn.

And we tried to serve themed snacks... which is really just my way of saying we tried to think of cool names to label the snacks to make them fit the Cars theme in true Pinterest fashion. ;-)

(apparently, the food pictures are lost on some other device, also!  bug bummer.  I was pretty proud of them.)

Overall, it was a great party, even if I learned that I have no clue how to handle a house full of children from age 11 years down to 11 months.  Wonder what Munchkin will ask for next year???

Her birthday presents from Mom and Dad. Mom tied the Cars quilt, Dad wanted to pass down love for one of his favorite sports.  We also finally fixed the tires on a bike that was handed down to us by a family friend (Thanks, Natalie Saxey), so she got a bike, and helmet from another family friend (Thanks, Melinda!), too.

Munchkin with her red and yellow traffic balloons stuck to her hair.  She was SO excited when she woke up, declaring, "Santa brought me my Cars birthday!!!"

For dinner, Munchkin's Nana and Grandpa and aunt Sam came over.  And we invited the missionaries, too.  Munchkin's favorite dinner is burritos, so we went out to a local restaurant that has delicious "Mexican" food.

 Munchkin got to wear a sombrero and the hosts and servers sang happy birthday to her.

 Oh, and the free dessert that she shared with everyone.  She's so sweet!

At the end of the day, she used her birthday money to get a new jacket and a Cars umbrella.  It was such a fun birthday.  We left the "road" taped to the floor for about a week or so.