Our girl turned three on Saturday.  I know every parent in the history of the world has said they can't believe how time flies, but it's true.  It still feels like yesterday that she was born, and was this fragile little thing.  And now.....she seems so grown up. 

Katherine had a great birthday and an even better birthday party, despite a series of unfortunate events. 

I was super excited when Katherine's birthday fell on a Saturday this year.  It became obvious that we would be hosting her party at my parents' house this year, so we ordered invitations and officially planned the party for March 12. 

Not long after setting the date, we learned that the small community that my parents' live in hosts an annual St. Patrick's Day parade that draws in about 60,000 people each year.  Guess what day the parade was scheduled for?  If you guessed March 12, then you are right.  We soon learned that all major roads leading to and around my parents' house would be closed or blocked for the better part of the day.  It seemed like it would make for a rough day, but we persevered. 

After a slight issue with some of our dessert orders for the party were cleared up two days before the party, I figured we had seen the last of our party problems and we were all in the clear.  Then Friday morning I was awakened at 6:45 a.m. by the sounds of jackhammering.  I looked out the window and saw a street crew "fixing" the street in front of my parents' driveway.

No! No! No no no no no no no no no!

Yep.  They were in fact breaking up the concrete in front of my parents' house and driveway to pour brand new concrete that would need to set over the weekend. 

#$@%%$#$^*!!!

It's ok.  We would overcome.

Party day brought lots and lots of people to the neighborhood, parking their cars up and down the street to attend this God forsaken parade, leaving little room for our party guests to maneuver between the cones blocking the fresh concrete. 

But alas, our party guests were led in the back way through the neighborhood and we still had an amazing turnout. 

It really was a great day and we're so grateful to everyone who came to celebrate our sweet girl at her Inside Out birthday party. 

We had our traditional donut birthday breakfast and before we knew it, it was party time. 

Katherine's t-shirt, bow

"Joy" cardboard cutout

Food tents

Cookies

Cake

Cupcake (Walmart) toppers: DIY

Katherine received her very own karaoke machine for her birthday (thank you North County Angels), so she was happy to entertain the crowd after cake. 

Speaking of cake, I cannot say enough about how delicious the cake and cookies were!  Because we were at the mercy of my parents, I outsourced all baked goods this year to local bakeries, while my mom and I made the food for the party.  (Thank you Pioneer Woman for your awesome party food ideas!)

The house was full of love and laughter and we couldn't have asked for a better time. 

Thank you to my parents for opening up your home to our crazy friends and family and to my mom for all the help in the kitchen!  We literally couldn't have done it without you!