Will's 3rd Birthday Party

Didn't we just have his awesome 2nd birthday train party last week? Weren't we just celebrating his first? Why is my baby 3? And why can't I stop time for at least a few days just so I can stare at my children and breathe in their innocence, purity, curiosity, and zest for life? This is moving entirely too fast for me.

I technically have a 2 year old for 12 more days. But since my life isn't crazy enough right now, I thought, why not just plan a birthday party in the middle of the whole thing?

But we will be moving in a few days, we won't know anyone in Dothan on his real birthday, and all he wanted to do was ride a horse. Hmmmm..... ride a horse.... I know a children's farmstead 5 miles from my house where kids can ride horses, his best friends are still here in Kansas City..... done! Birthday party for Will the week of our move. No big deal.

If you all know me and you know this blog, I love birthday parties. I love planning the themes, making the cakes, and doing all of the decorations myself. Whether it is building a cardboard train, making princess poms, or sculpting a horse cake, I love it to do it myself. Not this year. With the moving truck coming in 2 days, I (gasp) bought a store bought cake, and had a horse/pizza/summer fun party. No theme whatsoever. And guess what? He LOVED it! And that's all that matters.

We kept it small and just invited his closest friends to the farm. He was beyond excited. He had asked for each of them by name and here they are waiting their turns to ride the horses.

Will got to go first. Y'all have no idea how big of a deal this was. At this particular farmstead, children have to be 3 to ride the horse. And we all know who has a big sister that loves horses. So for years Will has begged and begged to ride the horse and we couldn't let him. So, guess who got to today?

Happiest boy in the world.

All the kids took turns riding....

.....and waiting patiently for their turns.

And then it was time to go fishing!

Poor Rob was the only Dad there and so he had to bait all the hooks. Could I technically have done this and helped out? Yes. Do I care at all that I played my girl card to get out of it? No.

And yay for Levi!! The only catch of the day!

Afterwards we got bottles of milk for all the kids and they fed the baby goats.

And the birthday boy was in heaven.

We had a few minutes left for playtime...

...and then it was off to a local pizza shop for pizza and cake!

Maybe my favorite picture ever of Will with his best friend, Rachel. Could he be any happier?

Time for cake. Again, my first store bought. And so easy! What has been my problem all of these years? Look at that adorable little face? Isn't he the cutest?

Celebrating 3 amazingly happy and blessed years.

Happy Birthday, Will!!

Time for presents!

This may be my most favorite picture of the whole day. Look at him looking at his sister like, "Get your stinkin' eye off of my present, woman."

Love this birthday boy!

All the kids with their baskets filled with random summer items like sunglasses and bubbles. Nothing to do with horses or farms or even a pizza party. Oh, well. Who cares? Will had the best day and is still talking about it. We sure are going to miss our Kansas City friends and are so thankful for the years of friendship they have given to Will and Benentt.

L-R Rachel, Crosby, Levi, Bennett, Will, Brynn, Ridley, Walker, Ainsley, Brooke, Sadie

What special children. I adore each and every one of them.