Musical Tires, Pin the tire on the car, Junkyard dig, Car races, Balloons, Pinatas, and the Leaning Tower of Tires

My baby is 3. I can't believe it. Rook was born about 2 years after we got married and I was 32. I had had 1 or 2 miscarriages before I got pregnant with him and I had all the thoughts that come with getting married older, losing babies...etc. And then he came and it was such a miracle. I remember feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and not minding getting up in the middle of the night, just so I could hold him. You'd think I'd remember everyday how special he is...but I don't. The minute he does something naughty...I forget...

We had 2 fun parties for him...I know, I know... a little overboard. We were just going to take him to Disneyland, but then my friend got married on his birthday and 2 cousins got baptized so we made the most of family and friend time. He LOVED the parties and I loved seeing him have so much fun. Here are a few shots.

Musical tires in my parent's basement. I made the tires and each one had a picture of one of the cars from the movie. Then I laminated them at Lakeshore. They have a self-laminating machine for .29 cents a linear foot. So I did almost 7 feet for $1.80.

After musical tires, we pinned the tire on the car. At our house, on the back wall outside. It worked perfectly. Rook had 7 little friends over from nursery and they had a blast. Everyone was so well behaved and played so well together.

A little digging for buried treasure in the sandbox. We called it Mater's Junkyard scavenger. I guess I hid the stuff a little too good. We had to help them all find their stuff. It was funny because Rook mostly buried them. So my cutest visiting teaching companion Becky came over to help me because I was by myself. Joe had a quiz right as it was starting and then he raced home to help. Thanks again Becky!

I think there's at least 2 balls and a frisbee still in the sandbox.

After they found all their stuff, they just sat on the grass and played with their pile. I hoped they would find lots of delight in M&M's, balls, cars, etc.

Once they found their cars in the sandbox, we headed to the garage for the car races. That didn't work out so well, so we blew up balloons and everyone had fun kicking them. At my parents house, we hid the cars outside and all 17 kids who were there had to find theirs for the car races. We did races in their garage too. They didn't have a sandbox so I asked trivia questions from the movie so they could get their prizes. Like...who said..."I'm the world's best backwards driver" and "I am followed the racing my entire life, my whole life".

They all had fun hitting the pinata. Nobody could break it so Joe just pulled the tab on the bottom and they dove in.

At my parents house, we used the same one and Rook got to hit it first and barely tapped it. Then I let one of the older kids go and she broke it instantly. I thought my plan was brilliant to get it over with, but some of the younger kids were so sad they didn't get to hit it...I thought candy everywhere would block that out...nope.

Here's Rook and Bonnie at my parent's house. Hands in pockets he's loving everyone looking at and singing to him. All the pictures from my parents are blurry...that's why there's not very many.

We scarfed down the leaning tower of tires and Alexa couldn't get enough of all the kids. She had just as much fun as they did. I have a cute picture of her devouring a brownie...but it's blurry...so I guess I don't have one. Trust me...