Wow, where has the time gone? Paisley turned three a few weeks ago and we had a great time celebrating! On Saturday, July 17th, we had a small party with family. Paisley was a little confused - she kept asking us the whole week before her actual birthday "am I three yet?" because we had already done the celebrating the week before.
As I have mentioned many times, Paisley has been on a Clifford the big red dog kick for quite some time, probably since about November/December of last year. I don't think most kids at this age keep their attention with one 'character' for so long, but Paisley's love for Clifford had not dissipated by the time we started talking about her third birthday. So, for the 2-3 months leading up to July, she was very adamant that we have a Clifford party, and that is what we did!
As far as decorations were concerned, we kept it simple with lots or red balloons, a homemade banner, and two huge Clifford balloons that Ree Ree ordered online. Wow, I would have never guessed how challenging it can be to find Clifford party stuff - it is nowhere to be found at the regular party stores, etc.
My creative side wanted to make something for her that was Clifford related, so I spent about a week cutting out letters and shapes to make her the Clifford Happy Birthday banner.
Speaking of creativity, Aunt Heather kindly volunteered to make the cake for the party. Paisley has been asking us for MONTHS to be sure that there was a big Clifford cake at her party. Heather did not disappoint!!
The cake was adorable, and in my opinion the best part was that it was homemade... She and mom also spent lots of time making the cutest dog bone cookies and icing them all by hand. They were the "tummy yummies", which are part of the Clifford cartoon show. Paisley was really thrilled with all of it, she felt super special.
So, we enjoyed our time with family including Grandma, Grandma Fay, Papa Mike, Grandma Edith, Uncle David, Aunt Jessica, Uncle Devon, Uncle Ian, Ree Ree and Papa Doug, and Aunt Heather. I think Paisley especially enjoyed being the only kiddo there; she of course received 100% of the attention. I know there will be many, many years of birthday parties with lots of great kiddos, so I wanted her to have one last party with just her family.
She received some wonderful gifts, way too many thanks to being the only child, grandchild and niece. Here she is enjoying her new "bling bag chair". We haven't had the heart to correct her on this one because it is so stinkin' cute. To be honest, I think that is a way better name than bean bag chair.
Here she is admiring herself in the mirror of the vanity that Papa Mike gave her.
She has been enjoying all of her new stuff including a kid-friendly digital camera, a cash register, new Clifford PJs, lots of play food for her kitchen, new stuffed animals, puzzles, etc.... thank you to everyone, she has been having a great time with it all!!
I must say, in spite of all the great gifts and good company, the highlight of the evening for Paisley was a visit by Clifford himself!
When I turned 3, my grandma came to my birthday party dressed as a clown - makeup and all. I look back at the few pictures we have of the event with a big smile. There is only a small window of time in a little kid's life where their imagination allows them to believe in the "make believe" of life. So, I checked with my very favorite area costume shop - Rose's in Denton - and sure enough, they had a Clifford costume. Mike was planning on dressing up, but when Devon got wind of what we had planned, he volunteered. He is such a good sport :) From a practical standpoint, the costume was pretty ridiculous. It was a small, tight jumpsuit with elastic ankles and a rather large tail in the back. The Clifford 'head' didn't really cover up the face, so Devon and Mike came up with the plan to cover Devon's face with the Germany soccer scarf. This is why Clifford sort of looks like a robber :) Paisley didn't seem to mind, she was absolutely mesmerized! She hugged and kissed Clifford, told him she loved him, and as soon as Devon tried to say something back, she let him know that she did know it was really him, just dressed up as Clifford. She seemed to be just fine with that, enjoying every minute.
You can see her here just hanging on to him as hard as she could. Just so I don't forget, the funniest thing she said during all of this was "hey, grown ups don't have tails, they have bo-bos!". (Bo-bos is her word for rear-end...). Her mind works in funny ways!
Thank you Uncle Devon for making the party - Paisley was thrilled!!!
The shark tunnel was really cool. We were here a few years ago when Paisley was little, but with a stroller, etc. we didn't make it down to the lower levels, so we missed this part. There were lots of sharks and other interesting creatures swimming all around and above us. Here are Paisley and I (and baby brother) enjoying the view.
We didn't get too far. Even though a lot of the tunnel areas are air conditioned, they are not all contiguous, so we spent some of our time outside. Being 6 months pregnant after an afternoon of "fun" at the aquarium was enough to wear me out! But, Paisley thought it was a pretty cool "adventure" to walk through the tunnels... Cheap fun. 
