Charlotte is THREE!

Where the heck did July go?!
Summer is drawing to a close way too quickly.
So glad there are still so many good things ahead!

The end of July brings Charlotte's birthday.
One feisty little three year old girl that Charlotte.
And a girl who has been obsessed with Rodeo for the past two weeks.
Yep, she's still swinging that rope!

Over the past month or so she went from wanting a Tinkerbell cake, to wanting a Tangled cake, to all things rodeo.  Her final request (every day for the week before her birthday) was a pink cake with horses.  I googled pictures of horse cakes and she didn't like any of them, she wanted horses.  on a pink cake.  And that was all.
God bless simplicity.
And cheap bags of little plastic farm animals at Walmart.

Her party was small and simple.  Or at least as small and simple as one can be with so many siblings.  It was just our family and my parents, at my parents house.  All you other family members who bailed missed out!
Charlotte's birthday falls on the 25th, just one day after our state holiday-Pioneer Day.  My parents always put together a fun pioneer themed dinner for that, so the rodeo obsession worked out perfectly.

Dinner was served up at the Chuckwagon, on pie tins and eaten with large spoons.  It was awesome.

Charlotte went appropriately bonkers over the horse balloon.

Everyone got their own hat to wear-

Even Sam.

Who was also blown away by his Sheriff badge.

Charli got a special birthday "rodeo hat", complete with sequin trim.  That she sleeps with.  And wears for at least two hours every day now.

This cake:

was exactly what she wanted.  How do I know?  Because she helped make it.  And insisted on putting those horses their herself.  Not bad for a 3 year old cake decorator.  She totally cracked herself up that the light brown horse looks like it is eating the frosting.

And the candles make it even better.

Definitely not a show off kind of cake, but definitely one of the best we've ever had.  She was more thrilled at this cake than just about any other of our kids at any other birthday no matter how many hours I spent on a fancy cake.  I may just let my kids make their own cakes from here on out.

After blowing out the candles she immediately removed the horses and sucked off the frosting.
Smart girl.
Also there is a bad joke in there about hoof and mouth.

She was thrilled with the Dora glasses she's been coveting at Walmart.

Had more than enough help opening gifts, which is the norm in this group.

She was appropriately thrilled with every gift she received, and had an extra soft spot for her Tangled Barbie (which she calls "Tangled" instead of "Rapunzel"), and her Pony.

Then she was still so excited that she ran.

And just like last year, she ended up at her little spot on the garden wall, just chillin'.

And since one party wasn't enough for Malia, she put together a surprise party for Charlotte on Monday-her actual birthday.  When I say surprise, I really mean surprise.  Apparently she printed invitations for my parents and my brothers and included the phrase "this is a surprise, so please don't even tell my mom!".  Sweet.
My parents, being good sports (good is an understatement!), brought lunch and another cake out and joined us for Charlotte's second party.
The candles in pizza is always a hit.

And the additional decor of 783 feet of paper chains was fabulous.  (also courtesy of Malia)

Apparently my normal birthday decor in the kitchen just isn't good enough anymore.

But the real winner here is that Malia wanted to do a piñata.  Not having had time to make a real one, she used a box.
Filled with balloons and what treats she could come up with from around the house.  Which is not as many as you might think.  My stash is nearly completely gone except for gum.  Dangit.

The kids loved it, and since it was a box, it was sturdy enough that everyone got plenty of chances to break that thing open.

Even the party master herself.

It ended when someone knocked it off the rope and Charlotte tried to beat it open on the ground.
My sweet docile little girl....
who finally just ripped it open.

Her afternoon was so eventful that it took it's toll.  I asked her what she wanted to do for the rest of her birthday and she said "take a nap in your room".  I thought she was joking and just wanted to play in my bed.  Since it was her birthday I told her to go ahead, and found her like this just moments later.

Heck, I probably could have gotten away with snuggling her.  She's growing out of that phase way too quickly....