3 Years Old!

I can't believe our boys are 3! Seems like each year is going by faster than the one before... so sad! So, here they are posing for their annual giraffe photo (which they've named Melman from Madagascar). As you can see, they are now taller than the door knob!

With some bribing (and a few threats), we managed to get them to stay next to Melman for a few shots...

They are so silly!

Hands in pockets... so GQ!

We of course had to put another mark on the door frame. This past year, both boys grew 2.5 inches! (Melman is about 5 ft tall by the way.)

If you read the previous post, you may remember the picture of all the boys' birthday presents that we hid in the laundry room after their party. Here are some pictures of the boys happily opening their presents after waking up the next morning...

We had them pose with each gift so we could include them with our thank you cards...

The look on Ben's face is priceless...

This is how excited they looked every time daddy came out of the laundry room with another present to open...

They could barely retain their excitement... so funny!

Bryce discovered an easier and quicker way to open the presents that came in a gift bag... that's so Bryce! While Ben, on the other hand, dug through his bag in a much more orderly fashion...

Ben couldn't wait to have us open this one...

Once again, Bryce used his dumping technique...

Checking out their new toys while waiting for daddy to come back with more presents to open...

They took a short break to play with one of their gifts...

The perfect present to end with...

Later that afternoon, we celebrated the boys actual birthday by going to see Madagascar 3! Audrey, Gabrielle, and Oma & Opa Berg came along...

Cousins... same age, same size, so cute!

Eyeing the candy while waiting in line for popcorn and lemonade...

Miraculously, both boys sat through the ENTIRE movie!!

Quick shooting game before leaving the theater...

Afterwards, we all went to McDonald's for dinner. This McDonald's had a great play area that even included video games at a few of the booths!

Here are the boys' 3-year measurements:
Weight: Bryce 31lbs 4oz (44%), Ben 32lbs 2oz (53%)
Height: Bryce 36.5 in (24%), Ben 37.5 in (48%)

We've had so much fun watching the boys grow this past year! The terrible 2s have been really hard to deal with, and, coincidentally, I started finding gray hair on my head this past year, too! Hopefully, the "terrific" 3s will bring mom more patience and the boys better listening skills... and, of course, a lot more fun adventures! :)

Disney Cars 3rd Birthday Party

For their 3rd birthday, the boys wanted a Cars themed party. With around 50 friends and family invited, we decided not to have the party at home this year! So, at the last minute, we picked GattiTown and we had to email out the invitations since we didn't have time to mail them. Shame on mommy!

I took a picture of the boys wearing their McQueen hats to put on the invitations...

This was the invitation that we emailed to everyone...

Once again, we had my super talented friend, Janet, make the boys' birthday cake! Her husband delivered the cake to our house the morning of the party, and the boys were so excited as they watched daddy open the box slowly...

They squealed with excitement! :)

After naps, we headed over to GattiTown for the big birthday celebration! Here are the birthday boys posing in front of their cake while we waited for our guests to arrive...

Janet did such an awesome job! She asked what flavor we wanted, and of course, I picked banana again! We added chocolate too, just in case some people didn't like banana.

We were so happy that Payton and Lane came to the party. They live right across the street from us, and the boys love playing with them!

I tried really hard to get a picture of everyone! Here is their buddy Jett with his mommy...

And sweet Winston with his parents...

And, of course, their best pals Sam and Stella with Justin and Aunt Melissa...

Here are Blake, Presley and Adelynn eating pizza with their mommies... while Aunt Lizzy and Uncle Peter hung out by the door...

More of the boys' buddies... Atley, Knox, Emmie, and Landon sitting at a table with Sam, Stella, and Jett. And, there's Asher sitting in the far left corner with his daddy...

There's Oma standing by Uncle Eric, Uncle Tim, Aunt Beth, Audrey and Gabrielle...

Time to blow out the candles!

Yummy! I think everyone liked the banana cake!

Mommy had to get in one picture with her birthday boys!

And, here's Oma with a happy Bryce...

After pizza and cake, it was time to play! Here are Will, Claire and Payton on the bumper cars...

Claire and Payton were inseparable at the party...
 

Here's Landon shooting water guns with his mommy and daddy...

Opa and daddy introduced the boys to air hockey...

Stella and Sam got a ride on the carousel...

Uncle Eric and Aunt Alisha shot hoops while Audrey and Gabrielle watched...

Ben enjoyed a lollipop while playing video games with daddy...

Atley, Sam, Stella, Ben and Bryce playing skee ball...

The boys loved this little coloring game...

Here is a family portrait sketched by Leonardo!

The boys had such a great time, and on the drive home from the party, we were greeted by a perfect double rainbow!

The boys were super hyper when we got home even though it was already way past their usual bedtime. After we finally got them to bed, we unloaded all the presents from the car and hid them in the laundry room so we could attempt to get the boys to eat breakfast before opening them in the morning!