Evelyn Turns 3 Years Old! [Part 1]

After much anticipation, Evie's birthday has arrived.  This year was even so much more fun than last year because she really "got it", and was especially excited about everyone wearing birthday hats, balloons, presents, cake, and singing the happy birthday song.  This year is great too, because her birthday is on a Saturday so Joe could be home for her special day and we made it a whole birthday weekend celebration.  In lieu of a crazy toddler party, we opted to just do fun stuff at home and try to make it as special as possible.  My parents always did a great job of making our birthdays feel very special through all the little things, even on years where there wasn't a party, and we wanted to continue the tradition in our family.  So on Evie's birthday morning, she woke up to balloons and other decorations, a stack of party hats (which she promptly insisted that we all wear), and a couple of presents.  And since she is 3 this year, we opted to have her open her presents periodically throughout the weekend so she could better enjoy each one.  Our big gift to her this year was a big indoor/outdoor slide, which she loves.  (And I think we should get an extra gold star for having a giant plastic slide in our living room now, don't you?) haha.  Here are some photos from her birthday morning.