Aubrey Turns Three!

Aubrey's actual birthday was on a weekday, so we didn't do too much on the day itself. In traditional fashion, we started with Swedish pancakes. Ignore my lack of artistry.

Then Pam drove down from Boston, and we hit up the local fro-yo place. It was raining, which sucked, but Aubrey got lots of chocolate fro-yo topped with sprinkles, cookie dough, and M&Ms, which was awesome. She's totally my kid.

Once Daddy got home (she was NOT excited about waiting), we opened presents. She got a doll house from Nana and Papa...

... spelling puzzles and an American-Girl-knockoff (named Nora), along with a bathtub to go with her, from Mommy and Daddy...

... and a doll bed for Nora, an Owlette costume, and PJ Masks toy figures from Grandma and Grandpa.

These last two gifts lead me to her actual birthday party, which took place the following Saturday. When it came time to plan the party, I decided to ask Aubrey what kind of party theme she wanted. She immediately said, "I want a PJ Masks party!" She had just started to get into the show, so it was really on her mind. You know how kids go through phases...

Anyway, this phase lasted all the way through her birthday party, so there were no requests for a last-minute theme change (thank goodness). I did the whole Pinterest research thing and tried to get creative (not my thing), and this is what we came up with.

I stayed up the night before making masks and bracelets (which turn them into PJ Masks superheroes) for all of the kids, but no one actually wore them. Those who tried often ended up breaking their masks. (Did I mention the crafty Pinterest party is not really my thing?) But oh well. Aubrey still has a couple of the masks and plays with them sometimes, so that's a win, right?

In her typical fashion, Aubrey refused to wear her Owlette costume that Grandma and Grandpa gave her... just because she was "supposed" to. She did put it on before the party though...

I also went heavy into the red, blue, and green thing for decorations, and I tried to have every food item be related to the theme. Weirdly, no one wanted to eat the "Catboy's hairballs" (AKA popcorn chicken bites). ;) Oh, and the things that look like Jello shots are just plain old Jello. I promise. Actually, they were Romeo's experiments!

Because Aubrey and her friends are three-ish, we opted not to structure their fun. We just let them run amok. I'm really sad I didn't get any photos of that. I was busy shoving my face with pizza and then cake and enjoying adult conversation...

Speaking of cake, I decided to carry on the Mangum family tradition of serving Texas Sheet Cake for birthdays. And I kept it simple by decorating it with the PJ Masks figures my parents gave Aubrey.

This year, Aubrey didn't get all weird when we sang to her! And she was actually able to blow out (most of) her candles by herself.

Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered with a theme for a 3-year-old's birthday party (Eh, live and learn, right?), but in the end she had fun. And that's what matters.

After all the birthday shenanigans were over, it was nice to see that Aubrey was putting her presents to good use.

So anyway, happy (at this point very late) birthday to Miss Aubrey, my sassy, smart, independent, helpful, willful, sweet, sometimes very difficult but always wonderfully entertaining girl. I can't wait to see what you make of your life!