Amara's 3rd birthday party- Started in March, Posted May 1st. :)

Amara turned 3 on March 16th. Juan and I were in Hawaii for her birthday, but a few days before we left, I decided to prepare a birthday party for her that would take place when we got back from the trip. I called my friend, Marin, to get some ideas of where to have it. She suggested an indoor play-place called "Bouncing off the walls". I called them and learned that they host private parties and the pricing is pretty reasonable. They charge a flat rate for up to 25 children and take care of all the details... which was really appealing to me. :) I figured that since I amnot real good at entertaining/hosting, that this would be a nice option to get together with my friends and Amara's friends and play the night away. So... we decided to invite her friends from her church class (about 8 kids) and her friends from the babysitter, and her fun cousins and relatives. All-in-all I was thinking we would have a turnout of 15-20 kids, if everyone could make it. BIG PARTY! :) The night before we left on our trip, I drove around and got about 3/4 of the invites out. Deanne helped me pass out a few while we were gone, too. Thinking that we would 5-10 extra spots (up to 25 kids for the same price)- I let people know that if they wanted to bring older or younger siblings to come bounce around and play to bring them... thinking "the more the merrier". My wonderful sister Mary brought her four cute daughters from Colorado to play for the week-and I am so glad they made it to the party. I called all of the people invited to the party on Monday night to get the head count so I could order Pizza and Cake for the party, and was excited (and overwhelmed a bit) that all but one of the children we invited would be able to make it- and with siblings coming we would be around 35 kids. Yeah... it was a PARTY!!! Like Craziness. Fun. Overwhelming. and really at the end of the night I realized that Amara's 3rd birthday was bigger than most bridal and baby showers- and she actually had more people there than Juan and I had at our wedding. :) So... to all the people who came and played and celebrated Amara's birthday- I just want to say Thank you! Thanks for the support, your friendship, and for being so great. I love our friends and was really glad that everyone was able to make it. I promise I will never do this again- because it was ridiculous for a 3 year old- and at the same time it really was SO much fun for Amara and for me. Here are some pictures from the biggest, craziest party ever: