Eli’s 3rd Birthday – A Fishing Party

One of Eli’s favorite things is going fishing, so we thought it would be fitting to have his party be centered around that (I had originally wanted to do a carnival party, but ran out of steam and decided fishing was much easier and perfect for Eli).

We met at the park where we usually take Eli fishing, and on Saturdays the city has free fishing there at the pond – they provide fishing poles, bait, etc. for kids to try some catch and release fishing.

My family came for the party, and we were lucky to have my dad keeping track of Charlie.

Eli caught a fish with his Superman fishing pole…

Here are some of his friends from school, Addy and Mia, who also caught a fish -

Kai with his fish (I love that he was holding it in his hands) -

My dad and Charlie making funny noises into the balloon -

I think Evelyn’s face in this one is HILARIOUS – she wanted nothing to do with fishing and watched Joseph  instead.

Caleb waiting patiently for a fish -

Eli had fun with the worms (I can’t believe he was really holding one!)

Eli showing his worm to Sisi -

Ben helped with the sandwich prep, cutting out the fish with a cookie cutter :)

Gram felt terrible that day after the first weeks of chemo/radiation, so she stayed in the car for the fishing part of the party and came out for the lunch portion. She and Charlie had fun sitting next to each other, and he let her feed him little goldfish and grapes.

Eli with one of his BFFs, Evelyn, who is six months older and probably six inches taller :)

I slaved away on these Martha Stewart cupcakes made from scratch. After two batches of these multi-step, complicated cupcakes, I decided they probably weren’t worth it, even if they tasted good. I added a Swedish fish for some more fishy flair.

I do think the kids liked the cupcakes, so that made up for the fact that they were so time intensive.

See? I told you Evelyn is six inches taller. Maybe even more… :)

The whole group, except Evelyn must have already left by this point -

Eli giving Gram a kiss on the cheek… he loves her so much.

Eli was very territorial over the presents… he got some really fun things!

I love that Charlie was licking the balloon string in this family shot -

Later he found a mud puddle and went to town, splashing and getting sopping wet but having so much fun.

Later, opening presents in our messy family room… Eli got a new stuffed puppy from Davey, who also gave Charlie a stuffed animal (a cougar) so he wouldn’t feel left out. Davey is always a thoughtful gift giver.

My parents got this tractor for Eli – it’s pretty funny!

Eli has enjoyed riding on it around the yard.

AND… the moment you’ve all been waiting for (if you’ve made it this long in the post). The winner of the CSN Giveaway is…

#7 – Kelly D!!

Congratulations Kelly!

I called Kelly tonight to share the fun news, and she said she was glad to have something good happen this week. One of her four daughters is having her tonsils out tomorrow (Chloe), so this adds a bright spot to what will be a hard week for her and poor Chloe.

Faking Rain and a CONTEST! (finally)

I am so behind. And being behind feels so daunting… rather than catching up tonight, I’m choosing to post some fun pictures from this evening. Eli found an umbrella in the car and was excited to try it out. He asked Ben to “make some rain” with the hose, which we thought was pretty funny. Eli loved shielding himself from the “rain” with his umbrella.

We were on outfit #3 by this point (well, more like underwear/shorts round 3). We have no affiliation with West Point; these are some great hand-me-down shorts from one of Ben’s co-workers.

Charlie especially had the best time splashing in the tiny puddles on the path.

Both boys need haircuts, but Charlie’s hair is especially long since we skipped giving him a trim last month… By this point in the day, he had bubble solution in his hair, not to mention water and sand and who knows what else.

This last photo was taken right after Eli squirted poor Charlie in the head with water. Charlie wasn’t too pleased.

I promise I’ll catch up soon. It’s been an insane couple of weeks and I’m barely staying afloat. :)

If you’ve made it to the end of this post, it might just be your lucky day – because all you need to do is leave a comment here and you’ll be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to any CSN store online. (I still haven’t ordered my stock pot yet… that’s on the to do list and will probably happen next week, with a review to follow) But for now – leave a comment, any comment by Wednesday, June 9th at Midnight (CST). I’ll use random.org to choose the winner and will post it the next day. Good luck!! (and don’t be shy – I’ll be sad if only a few people enter the contest! I know you readers are out there… :) If you’re a blog stalker, it would be fun to hear how you found my blog.