Claire's 3rd Birthday Party

We had Claire's third birthday party in conjunction with her friend Trevor at the Ark (a big indoor playground at a local church - a Godsend for kids with summer bdays in Texas!)  She was very adamant that she wanted a "kitty" themed birthday bash, Hello Kitty that is.  That's what she got and I think she has the most HK stuff in the world after she opened all her gifts!  It was a great time.

All the friends ready for some cake

She had a blast!

Goofy girl

Contemplating all it means to be 3 years old

Some of us partied too hard...

Can't hang with the big girls

Getting a bit shy during the song, but at least no tears this year!

Enjoying sissy's singing

Check out my loot!

What is very peculiar to me is that both Claire and Kaitlin INSISTED on wearing the same dress for their 3rd bday parties.  With Kaitlin, it was much more dramatic (as all things are with your first kid when you haven't quite realized you can't force them to do anything) since I had purchased an entire frilly birthday outfit that she refused to wear and I can remember vividly the fit she threw and how she demanded to wear the green dress, and I was of course horrified b/c that dress was just not what I had in mind for her party.  And then the morning of Claire's party I gave her a couple of options for her attire, green dress NOT being one of them, but she went in and pulled that puppy out and put it on so that's what we got!  I've learned to pick my battles and this was not one of them this time.  But Aunt Amanda pointed out that they both had small braids in their hair too, which both of them specifically requested.  Guess they are related!  Here are some pics from Kaitlin's party just for kicks: