I told myself that I am NOT doing ANYTHING today until I get this darn Birthday Party/Labor Day post done... and here it is!
So, we decided to do Clay's birthday bash on Labor Day weekend so that many of our friends and family could help us celebrate it. Also, it helped me out having a long weekend to have more time to get it ready as well as a day to recuperate.
The weekend started off with our great friends, Tommy and Beth, and their little girl Isabelle coming up to stay the weekend. We spent Saturday watching the Auburn game and relaxing out on the lake. It was perfect weather and we had a blast hanging out in the water and riding around in the Pontooner. The drinks were also pretty tasty!
Then Sunday was the big birthday party bash! This year, Clay wanted a Disney Cars party. I will have to admit... I was a little bit of a birthday party slacker this year. I was such a slacker that I completely forgot to put out the cute birthday banner I had made as well as do all the cute birthday pom-pom decorations. I did manage to make the McQueen and Mater cupcakes, although I have vowed to NEVER make his cupcakes again. I will be paying someone next year to do it - Mark was my witness and has promised me he will not let me attempt some crazy hard cupcake feat for next year's party!
Since Clay's birthday is at the beginning of September and it's usually H-O-T so we decided to have some water fun! Thanks to our great friends, Emily and Jeremy, for letting us borrow their huge water slide! With the weather not cooperating at all and being yucky and rainy, the kids didn't mind because they were already wet!
They looked like they were having a blast on the slide! Made me want to get out there...
With it being Labor Day weekend, we had a lot of invitees that couldn't make it because they had planned their last beach trip of the year. But... the threat of a tropical storm in the gulf changed all of that! Everybody that we invited was able to make it! We had over 40 people there! I'm so glad everyone was able to make it and help us celebrate Clay's 3rd Birthday!
(Pictured above: The Birthday Boy, my niece, Cady and Isabelle, our photographer, Beth and cute little Baby Cora)
Once we finally got the kids dried off enough to eat, we pulled out the cupcakes I slaved over and sang "Happy Birthday" to Clay. Clay was VERY insistent that I put a candle in his cupcake because he HAD to blow it out.
Because we were doing a shrimp boil right after the party, I did slack a little on the birthday party food. We did cupcakes and ice cream and had Disney Cars juice boxes. I did the fondant on the cupcakes... and will NEVER work with fondant again! With the humidity, it was not holding up as well as I had hoped.
At least you can tell that they were supposed to be Lightning McQueen and Mater!
After we ate cupcakes and ice cream, Clay couldn't stand it any longer and HAD to open presents. He loved everything! Especially his Bubble Mater, Lincoln Logs and McQueen Bike.
After the presents were opened the birthday party was officially over and it was time to move onto the Shrimp Boil! We had all kinds of dips and appetizers for people to snack on while the boil was working. They were obviously good because when I went back to get a little bit... it was all gone! The shrimp boil turned out fabulous as well!
Here are some of the friends that came to celebrate with us!
(Pictured above: Jeremy, Chase and Emily; Beth and Tommy; Juli and Larry; me and my sister)
After we ate shrimp, it was time for the afterparty - complete with lots of dancing and an lovely play put on by Isabelle and my niece Cady. Clay even made an appearance in his Sesame Street fleece footy pajamas... not sure why he chose those for bed. It was only 90 degrees outside! Even little Chase got in on the dancing. He's got some moves!
The party was a blast and I'm so thankful for all of our friends and family who came to celebrate my sweet boy's 3rd birthday! Let's just say, we made a big ole' mess of the place. Luckily we had this little guy around to help with the clean up (oh, and Mark too!)
Can't wait for next year's party!!!
PS. A BIG HUGE GIANT thank you to Tommy and Beth for taking most of these pictures. Without them, my poor child would have had 2 pictures from his party!
