Three years old?

It's really hard for me to believe that my sweet little Lukey is 3 years old! We asked Luke what kind of cake and ice cream he wanted and he kept saying strawberry. He never waivered. Then I started asking what kind of decorations he wanted (or, in kid terms, 'what do you want on the plate when I hand you your cupcake?'). But he would only respond with, "stwawbewwies!"

I really want the boys' birthdays to be very special days for them. With three kiddos, there's a lot of sharing, as there should be, but I really want each one to feel special on his birthday. Dave was able to take the day off and Seth had school in the morning so just Luke and I ran some errands in the morning. We started at a bookstore, really for a book for me, but Luke managed to convince me that he might need a new book. Or two. Then we went to the party store so Luke could pick plates and napkins for his party. He chose Elmo. I really thought we'd walk out with Woody and Buzz, but he insisted on Elmo, and insisted on carrying it all to the checkout himself. I think he really just liked the matching party hats. From there we went to the store and bought another cupcake mix (the batch I made Thursday tasted burnt to me). He wanted to tell the lady at the checkout all about his 'stwawbewwy birthday.' Then we ran home, met up with Daddy and Max, made the cupcakes, fed Max, and were back out the door before noon to pick Seth up from school.

Next came the adventure for the day. Dave came up with the activity. After we picked up Seth, we were driving down the road and Seth was pointing out the bowling alley and saying that would be fun to do, maybe once Max is 'grewn up.' We confirmed with Luke that he thought it would be fun someday too and then we pulled into the parking lot. They've "bowled" on the Wii before but this was the first time for either of them to really bowl. It was truly one of the funniest things I've ever seen! Birthday boy at the bowling alley.

We started out this way - bumpers and bowling the ball himself. Dave was a bowler before we met so he was trying to share some technique with him. You can see Luke has crossed the line and is making his way down the lane.

Nevermind that the ball was going SO slow that the screen started flashing and suggesting that we resume bowling. While the ball was wandering down the lane toward the pins.

The ball return was extremely fascinating to both boys.

Very much a fashion statement, those shoes!
A bowling alley employee suddenly appeared with this strange looking thing (it looks a little like a child sized walker). He asked if we wanted to use it. I'm pretty sure I looked at him like he had two heads growing out of his neck, but it turned out to be the neatest thing. The boys put the bowling ball at the top and then it rolls down so it picks up some speed from the get-go and moves things along. I had to laugh at Dave, who kept adjusting it to try to get the best shot. He finally let go and just let them go at it for awhile.

Max was there too. Hanging out in my arms most of the time.

No trip to the bowling alley would be complete without some super greasy and yummy food. It was close to lunchtime so we just got a little something to get them through. After we left the bowling alley we got a much healthier lunch - McDonald's - and promptly deposited Luke into his bed for a little nap.

After that we had dinner. Or I guess I should say I made a (yucky) kid friendly dinner and neither of the boys touched anything on their plate. Normally this would've been an issue, but I've decided that there are three boys which means three birthdays a year and I will NOT fight with them about food on those days. [Don't tell them that.]

After dinner, Grammy and Grampy came over and brought this big ol' noisy dump truck. Clearly he is in love! All sorts of things have been dumped from the back of the the truck. We caught Luke trying to get into it himself today. Right then I made a mental note not to let Max out of my sight! Ha. Luke also got some Cars toys (because we don't have any of those around here), a new game, a fire truck shirt, a puzzle, some toy tools, a couple of books, and a moon. Luke LOVES the moon and a friend of mine (thanks Susan) told me about one that we could put in his room. It's very cool.

Blowing out the candle on his cupcake (and homemade strawberry ice cream).

The party hat and strawberry smoothie. [I love a good theme, although it did feel a little pink for a boy's party.]

The moon in his room. SO fun.

And finally, I guess I missed the memo of how life changes when you turn three. I got to sleep in Saturday morning so when I got up Dave, Seth and Luke were having breakfast. I came downstairs and sat down at the table and Luke looked at me and said, "Hi, Cara." Umm, no, being three does NOT mean you can call Mommy by her first name! Oh, that boy!