Did I ever tell you about the time....

that Lizzy turned 3?

Well she did. A while back. It was a good time. I took a lot of photos.

Since her birthday WAS a while back, I'm a little foggy on the deets. I recall that it was a really fun day. We pretty much allowed Lizzy to pick everything that we did and 3 year olds only want to do things that are fun, hence the fun.

The birthday girl wanted to go to McDonald's for breakfast... in pajamas.

And so it was.

Charlie was required to wear his jammies too. This photo was pre-haircut. He looks a little "i eat paper" here...

In retrospect, I see why just a few days later, Leslie forced me to pin his arms down while she savagely shaved his head... and then wondered why he didn't seem to like her very much for the rest of the day. It's all for the best.

Hmmmmm. This must have been before McDonald's had the Barbie/Hotwheels toys. Does anyone else HATE the dragon toys because their wings are constantly falling off? Does anyone else think that I spend entirely too much time at McDonald's?

Ya.

Brent and I like this photo because the light hits her rat's nest just right. I'm also fond of the mismatched jammie jams. Oh Lizzy, How do I love thee?

So after that, I forced my family to go home and shower.

It took several hours to get us all presentable and by the time I was finished, I was ready for lunch. Brent and I lured the children to Hagermann's by offering them frosted sugar cookies.

Cookies generally do the trick.

It's amazing what small children will do for frosted sugar cookies.

I tried to get Charlie to pose for a photo with me.

a couple of times.

I was unsuccessful in my attempt to capture his love for me in a picture.

And now I want Hagermann's.

Lizzy was all 'gung ho' to go to Chuck E. Cheese. I was a little ticked because it was really Jane that was so desperate to go to Chuck E. Cheese, so for like the month before Lizzy's birthday, she was prepping her.

"Lizzy, have you ever been to Chuck E. Cheese?"

"Lizzy, have you seen the commercials for Chuck E. Cheese? Doesn't it look fun?"

"Lizzy, wouldn't it be great if we could go to Chuck E. Cheese for your birthday? I bet that Mom and Dad would take us all if you asked them."

So we went to Chuck E. Cheese.

Fortunately, our best bud, Brooklyn, was willing to come with us and show us the ropes. She has a brother that works there, so she knows her way around.

For the record, I don't like that place.

It feels damp in there.

There's no reason for that.

No reason for dampness in the Chuck E. Cheese.

The lighting also made me uncomfortable. Particularly bad for someone that might have been wanting to take a couple pictures. This is the only one I got.

And it's not even one of Lizzy. Jane won the jackpot on one of the games and got, like hundreds of tickets, or something like that. We took a video. I'm not posting it. Jane is a glory hog (remind me to tell you about the time that Leslie accused her as such) and this post isn't about Jane and Chuck E. Cheese. It's about Lizzy's birthday.

I WAS going to post a video of Lizzy blowing out the candles on her cake, but computers are dumb and make life hard, so nevermind.

All the family came for dinner and brought presents and had princess cake and Brent was in charge of the camera and Brent thinks like a boy and DOESN'T think "Oh, I'd better take some photos that are in focus and some cute ones of Lizzy having the time of her life because if I don't have them, how will I post them on my blog later?"

So this is what I got instead.

Brent's a good man. And he tried.

Notice how quickly Lizzy is capable of becoming disheveled even after I spend extra time trying to make her look as though she's loved and cared for? I swear I try.

All in all, it was good. Miss Biz has been asking for another birthday ever since, so I think she liked it too.

In conclusion, I want you all to know that I feel very much relieved now that I've posted this. NOT sharing the details of my middle child's third birthday via blog has been eating away at my conscience for the last month. I'll sleep good tonight.