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It is hard to believe Keegan is already three, but sure enough his birthday came and went. And what an event that was: for days afterward we paid with extra tantrums all the special attention the little guy received.

This year, Keegan has been really anticipating this day. He had learned early in the year that his birthday comes in December and that he would be three then. So, there was no way to let it go unnoticed.

Of course, for us, the hectic preparations started way earlier, but for him, the festivities began the day before, when we went to Von’s to buy a festive balloon, some goodies for his preschool party, and to order a birthday cake for his real party on Saturday. After much pondering, Keegan chose the train motive, with a Thomas train on it and some writing. It wasn’t actually too bad: fresh strawberries inside a marbled cake. He even got to taste two different frosting: of course Keegan picked the sweetest of the two.

On Friday, his actual birthday, we started the day by celebrating him and letting him open one gift from his grandparents: it was a fun puzzle book. We got him to pose in his new favorite jacket with his birthday balloon…he does not seems excited but trust me, he was bouncing off the walls. He just does not enjoy pictures.

Then, we sent him to school with chocolate chip muffins and grapes to share with his class. His new teacher, ms. Joanna, made him a crown, and I have been told that he got to hear the Happy Birthday song all day long (sorry everyone). One of the other teachers sent me the pictures of the party in progress.

I picked him up in the afternoon: Matt was already at home, since he had to meet some garage door guy, so it was a nice surprise for Keegan. Of course, the first thing he wanted to do was to open presents. We tried to limit the number, since we knew he would get more toys the following day, but he still lots: a build-yourself biplane (since we saw many at the Air Museum); a wood train set; and a small helicopter- hauling truck. I nonni sent him a couple of books, a set of paper place mats that convert into paper airplanes and and RC motorcycle. Wow, he is a lucky little guy.

can’t wait to open the presents…

my new wood train is pretty cool

Please note our plastic wrapped new carpet…and good thing we had this too, because I immediately spilled OJ on it

We ate pizza for dinner, one of his favorite foods and a little chocolate cake. We blew up the candles and took the obligatory pictures, and then back to play with the new toys once more.

Getting him to sleep was not easy: between the sugar and the excitement he woke up a few times that night. The next morning it was showtime!!!

The party has been the biggest stressor and the biggest unknown…literally. We sent out invitation without a site, since we wanted to have the party outside. Our house is still not 100% done and we had invited about 15 children: there was no way they would fit in our house. So, we checked the weather report religiously, and everything looked fine till the Monday before, when all weather reports showed rain for that day. Of course we panicked: we had no plan B, and it was too late to rent anything. So, we waited and hoped, and fortunately the chance of rain was reduced to 20%, so we took our chances. We rented a nice combo bouncie with a slide, and we headed to Liberty Station Park. It was the perfect location, with huge grass fields, a close by playground and open bathrooms.

Matt left early to pick up the cake and meet the set up guys, but I could not get the birthday boy out of the house: so he was actually late to his own party. He was so excited when he saw his bouncie and his friends!

It was definitely a good call! All the kids (and there were 12 of them) had a great time. We also brought some bouncing balls, so they had small races.

All the kids wore themselves out.

Thank you Krista for climbing up the slide to take this shot!

Keegan was so tired and cranky by noon, that he did not want to eat any pizza or cake!!! Fortunately, everyone else was hungry, since we had a lot of food.

a tired and cranky birthday boy

However he got a second wind when he saw on his best buddies from school, Kelson, arriving: for some reason he never got the invitation so we were not sure if we could get hold of him.

Kelsen and Elliott on the field

Impromptu soccer matches (and relative fights) ensued, and then more bouncing and running around. Keegan “tried” to take a nap, by laying down in the grass, but did not last long. Most kids were gone by 2pm, except for Hannah, so the two of them got some more jumping in. They even got me to jump. Man it is hard work… But the slide is fun!

Hannah and her baby sister Natalie

Then they took turns with the awesome Stomp Rocket she brought him.

We also got some party crashers: but we could not say NO. It is hard to see a bouncie and not being able to go in.

Keegan and I finally left around 3pm, while Matt had to stay behind waiting for the guys to pick everything up. Keegan fell asleep as soon as he hit the car seat, as expected. It was easy get him to bed and he had a nice nap. I did have to wake him up as it was getting late and he was obviously a little out of sorts:he bounced so much, he ended up throwing up all over me. Fun times. He was also still tired. Not too tired for opening the presents, mind you, but still. He got to unwrap them all, but we had him choose 4 and put away the rest. We did not want to be overwhelmed. He got so many cool toys!

Unwrapping toys is serious business

After more playing he ended up going to bed earlier than usual, with no fuss. Tired but happy. It is exhausting being the birthday boy!

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