Ophelia's 3rd Birthday - Off to Utah

June 9th - With a quick up, up, and away, I am off to Utah for a few days to celebrate O's 3rd birthday.  My suitcase is full of fun handmade gifts and I'm ready for snuggles and giggles galore.  The bonus?  Ava is 10 1/2 months old now and I get to spend time with her too.  Is there more?  Of course.  Time with my own sweet baby and her hubby are always a special treat.  Now let's get going.

I have an afternoon flight so arrive in early evening to a car full of girls.  A drive to Provo and a few cuddles before I fall into a heap.  Time for some sleep and let the fun begin tomorrow.

10th -  Alright, let's get this party started.  Miss Ophelia is now THREE.  While I peacefully slept away the night, Cassie decorated the dining room with a pleasant surprise for her little one this morning.  It looks great and the smiles are definitely worth it.  Gifts are out and so perhaps I should get mine wrapped too.

While I am taking a couple of pictures, I wanted to show the kitchen set that is now complete.  Cassie and Scott build this for their girls and it is simply adorable.  I believe it started out as old dressers.  Just peek at all the attention to detail going on here.  Love, love, love.

Even the end has a hidden pantry and room for aprons.  It's perfect.

As for this year?  Well apparently a washing machine box has been a big hit to play in out in the garage.  Thus is has been sneakily removed and transformed into a little reading/coloring nook.  Using an online video, a few cuts were made and then pieces reattached.

It has been covered with contact paper and Scott has strung lights all through the inside (where previous coloring experiences still shine through).  A piece of carpet for the bottom and a few throw pillows finish it off perfectly.  Wow.

Once Ophelia is awake, she is treated to opening one gift early.  How fun is this?

It's a fun Disney Cupcake Game and we set about learning how to play right away.  There's nothing else to do today, right?

Miss Ava is up and dressed and sitting nearby with her tote of toys.  Hey there pretty gal.

Once everyone is dressed, we have got errands to run.  Costco, grocery store, and dollar store stops are on the agenda.  There's a party in a few hours.  Apparently we need food.

AND BALLOONS!!!

Upon our return home, the girls get lunch and then down for a nap.  Cassie uses this time to prepare the back yard for the party and I take advantage of a few minutes to photograph her beautiful flowers.  The roses are simply divine.

Even  her pots are beautiful.  I really  need to get back into "yard" mode.

Miss Ava wakes first and so comes out to play in the back with us.

It is a simply beautiful day and she is nothing but smiles.  Give her a couple of toys and she is the most content baby ever.  Honest.

Cassie continues setting everything up and by the time she has the backyard pretty  much ready, O wakes and it is time for me to hit the kitchen and start in on the food preparation.  It's pretty simple, cupcakes and fruit salads to go with the pizza Scott is picking up.

Cassie gets the cupcakes made and I set to frosting them.  Simple pink swirls and we call it good.

As we are feeding Ava, people start arriving and O is ready for her party.  The pizzas have made it home and so the table is set up and soon the back yard is full of love and laughter all around.

I have to laugh at Ava as she just takes everything in stride.  We simply move her chair outside and she just sits and watches everything that is going on.

Happy Birthday is sung and her "3" candle is blown out.  Now to start licking the frosting off that cupcake.  No one really thinks she's going to eat the cupcake do they?

PRESENTS!!!!  Oh yeah!  The absolute best part.  Auntie Carol gives her a very cool book and Grandma has a Peppa Pig chair just her size.  From this point forward, all other gifts must be opened while sitting in this chair.  Seems appropriate to me.

It's my turn and her bag of gifts is full of fun homemade stuff (well mostly).

Fun times and great memories - both in the making and in the giving.

All right --- the gifts are finished and it's time to play with some of them.  Can she hit a baseball?

As the party winds down, some time in the new house AND some time in the new tent.  It's been a grand birthday for everyone involved.  The bonus?  We had a super easy cleanup.  Perfect.

It's definitely been a whirlwind day and this is one tired Gammy.  I am off to bed for some much needed shut eye.  See ya'll tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Ophelia.