Aubrey's Birthday

Aubrey turned 3 while we were in Canada, and the family there helped me make it a real fun day for Aubrey.

During the day, Mom took us all to this really cute little Children's Museum the have at a mall there. It was the perfect place for both of my girls. They had a blast. They had an area for the kids to play vets to all of the stuffed animals, a play camp ground with a fire pit, tent and canoe, a stage and instruments for the kids to perform on and a craft area. Aubrey loved it all! And Brooke loved hopping around touching everything.

Taking care of the animals at the animal hospital section.

Playing at the campground.









Loving the arts and crafts room. I think this is the room she spent the most time.



Doing a performance on the stage.



Brookie hopping around and taking it all in.



After the children's museum we went to the playground at the mall. And then had some lunch. Then we went home for naps and to prepare for the party.



We had the party at the Tanner's house. (Jeff's sister) Tammy was nice enough to make dinner for the whole crew and her and her kids decorated for the party.

Here my girls are with their cousins closest in age on the Buell side. As you can tell, we are the stragglers when it comes to having children. Shelby is the cousin to the far right and Aubrey looks a lot like she did at this age. What do you think, can you tell that they are related?



Aubrey was so happy to have another birthday party that she wasn't even shy. (Which she tends to be in large groups.)



Me and my sweethearts.



After dinner we played some games. The challenge I had was to come up with games that would be fun for Aubrey and her second cousins but also the teenagers and adults.

The first game we played was the animal game. I prepared slips of papers with animal names written on them. Each animal was listed on 2 papers. We all picked a slip and then had to make the animal sound until we found the other person who was the same animal as us. The last pair standing was out. Rounds of this continued until there were 2 left, who were the winners. Aubrey actually was one of the winners.



For the next game I put up a picture of Minnie Mouse to be a target. Everyone blew up a balloon and then took turns aiming it at Minnie Mouse. The one closest to Minnie was the winner.



Aubrey's was the only balloon that actually hit Minnie Mouse! It must have been birthday girl luck! Here's daddy helping Aubrey with her balloon.



For the last game we had 2 bowls. One empty and one filled with Marshmallows. We had 3 people at a time play. They put on hot pads and a blindfold. Then they had to use a wooden spoon to transfer marshmallows from one bowl to the next. The one who did it fastest was the winner.



I had a children's round where they didn't do the blindfold or hot pads. It's hard enough for them just to transfer the marshmallows with a wooden spoon!





Then of course we had to do a pinata.



Having older boys whack at a pinata sure is different than 2 & 3 year old girls! It broke open much faster!



Singing Happy Birthday!



Aubrey decorated most of the cupcakes all by herself! (Except I piped the frosting). I think she did a great job!



Yummy cupcakes!



Then more presents. The lucky little girl!



Brooke even got some presents too since her birthday was just a few weeks earlier.



Thank you hugs for Grandma!



Snuggles with Grandpa.



Aubrey enjoyed Brooke's presents as well!



Aubrey really had fun with her second cousins. She had no trouble joining right into their games. They had fun playing with the balloons after the party.

Aubrey was such a happy girl all day long! I am so grateful for my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law for helping make my Aubrey feel special on her birthday!