Noah turns 3

Wow, the big day has finally come: we are celebrating Noah's 3rd Birthday!

Noah is not quite as tall or grown-up as he had hoped he would be once he is 3 but he is potty-trained (as you can see) and also does not fit into Max's 3-6 month-old clothes too well anymore (as you can also see).

When Noah got up, first thing we did was open presents.
There was no way I was going to make him wait until Karl got home from work.
How much fun would that be?
Since Aunt Emily was here and brought presents from Germany,
there were so many, Noah got pretty tired of unwrapping them,
so there were still some left when Karl got home.

Then we headed to the park for a kids birthday party. Noah had invited his 3 best friends: Nate, Dylan, and Eric. First the played in the sand and found some treasures.







Then we tried to play some games but they preferred to dig in the sand until we brought out the cupcakes.





Then Noah opened his presents and LOVED them: trucks, trucks, and more trucks.



After that we had a little German tradition: we sang a song while carrying Noah sitting in a chair. He would not wear the birthday hat but loved it other than that.

(Btw, check out my sister's biceps!
She kills me (and most guys) every time we arm wrestle)

They also each made their own little pinata , we put some treats in and then they tried to break it. Noah decided to stab his after hitting did not work.





At the end, we just let them go wild on the play ground until they got hungry and tired.



While Noah and Max took their nap, we made the birthday cake. I baked it and Emily decorated it. (Thanks, Mandy, for the great idea)





In the afternoon, we had a family party. As usual, things were so crazy with all the cousins, that we failed to take pictures. Oh well. Dinner was pizza. Yumm.