Jack is THREE!

It is so hard to fathom that we are no longer a household of babies or even toddlers now!  We've got two independent little men, who are very vocal about what they like and don't like (usually more of the latter) and who amaze us every day with their observations about the world around us. 

Jack's actual birthday is 9/17, but of course it's always easier to have a house full of people on a Saturday.  This was the first party where we included Jack's friends from school, so there were even more kids and parents than usual. 

I never flinch at inviting our entire contacts list to Jack's party as we can just open up the back door and send everyone out on the patio and into the yard. However, we've had record rainfall in Denver this week, so the yard and garden are quite muddy. That didn't stop the 2, 3, and 4 year old boys from charging out to the playset - we just had to provide a few bags to transport muddy shoes home! 

Mercifully, the sun made an appearance for a few hours so it was good to get out and warm up before the afternoon clouds rolled in again. 

As usual, I took more pictures of the food than the guests, but there are a few of the birthday boy and his friends. 

Acting every inch a 3-year-old, Jack selected a really remarkable birthday ensemble (refusing to wear his Thomas T-shirt, of course! Please, Mother, that is SO predictable).

I relied on Pinterest and Amazon to help flesh out the theme, and Jena loaned me their Duplo Thomas and Friends train set (which caught the eye of all the little boys; they were all uniformly disappointed when I or their parents pointed out that it was just for decoration and not for play). 

I may have gone a little crazy with the alliterations... (I didn't do Mavis' Melon as originally planned, and Gordon's Granola Bar Bites didn't turn out - stupid almond butter). 

 

These wraps were so good, and super easy to make - spread cream cheese on spinach or whole wheat tortillas, layer ham or turkey with lettuce and sliced red peppers - DONE. 

I am always surprised at how much my (and other) kids love black olives (and they don't even try to put them on their fingers!).  This "coal car" was pretty much empty by the time all the guests left.

The pretzel rods represent "Jobi wood" - a special lumber harvested on Misty Island. It's a Thomas thing - you wouldn't understand (unless you've watched as many Thomas episodes and read as many Thomas books as we have!).

I love the idea of fruit and cheese kabobs as there is then no need for plates or forks, but the thought of assembling them all didn't get me too excited - so I took the lazy route and made a DIY kabob bar!

 Train-shaped PB&J, of course!

Jack's teacher Miss Ruth came to the party, which made him really happy - but she also brought a helium balloon, which sent him right over the edge of excited. 

 

Adorable Kyla, who is only 4 months older than Ryan but about three inches taller! Also shown, watermelon agua fresca in my favorite party cup - 1/2 pint mason jars with paper straws and custom paper lids. No trash as the straws and paper goes in the compost bin and the jars get stashed away until the next party!

It's obvious there were toddlers present as the big box of Thomas train engines and cars was almost immediately lined up in one long train.

Friends from school - Dean (orange hat), Kai (green shirt), and Jack's new "bestie" Fritz (orange shirt). Lots of parents overseeing lunch!

Kai spent a good deal of time "mowing" the lawn (the constant rain prevented Sam from mowing it for real before the party, so Kai had plenty of grass to work with!) and parked it nearby when his mom called him up to eat. Mason is one of the few kids who played with the trains - there were too many other distractions...

...like the playset!  David, Andrew, Sebastian, Eli, Anna, Ryan and Katherine didn't let damp grass or soggy wood get in the way of their climbing and swinging.

 Atlas (blue hat) enters the fray.

Sorry, Dave - you didn't actually want to talk to other adults, did you?  The girls pretty much insisted on constant swing pushing - "Higher, Daddy! Higher!"

Then it was time for cake!  I used the last giant zucchini harvested from our garden to make Chocolate Zucchini cupcakes (and a slightly bigger cake for the birthday boy) - just the perfect level of sweetness with no artificial anything and moist enough that no frosting was needed (while I love to cook, I am not a "food artist" and my cake decorating attempts would be more likely to appear on Cake Wrecks than Pinterest - plus all that fondant - gross).

Jack was a little overwhelmed by all the goings-on, so it was a good thing Grandma was able to provide a snuggle. I just love all the kids clamoring to help blow out the candles!

Jack recovered enough to eat his cake, naturally.

Look at that little devil!