A special day for a special 3 year old

Birthdays are a big deal around our house so we wanted to make sure Eva's special day was great. One day she will have to spend her birthday in school, or even at a job, so for now I make sure to plan a day that is filled with everything she likes to do. We started the day off with opening a few birthday presents. She got a couple of books, an ABC Bingo game, and a cowgirl dress up outfit. 

Then it was time for birthday breakfast! Ryan woke up extra early to go get us donuts before Eva woke up. I know she isn't looking at the camera in this photo, but doesn't she just look so content and happy? Just the way you should look on your 3rd birthday.

Next we went to the park and splash pad for some playtime with friends. Since we only did family for her party this was a good time for her to get to see her little friends. 

 She loves all of these kiddos so much! I think it made her day so special to get to play with them.

What birthday girl (and mama) doesn't need a pick me up after a sugar filled morning and outdoor playtime? We had a Starbucks date, milk for her and coffee for me. She got to use her own special Starbucks card that she got for her birthday to help pay for her milk box habit.

 

I tried to plan so that we wouldn't have to go to the store on  Monday like we usually do but we ended up needing just a few things. I decided to just run into Tom Thumb and I let her ride the silly outdoor horse. She ALWAYS asks to ride it and I NEVER say yes, so this was a treat. Good thing I had 50 cents in my purse!

When Ryan got home we all went to our neighborhood pool. This girl has mastered the art of enjoying a good pool raft. Next up was dinner and playtime at Chickfila but I didn't get any pictures there.

And finally we wrapped up her big day with a trip to the toy store. She had a Toys R Us giftcard that she got for her birthday and she decided to use it to buy a Frozen umbrella and the Let's Go Fishing game. It was fun to teach her that she had some money to use there however she wanted. Of course she was drawn to a few really random things but we helped her narrow her choices down to things that we thought she would actually like. The cutest moment was when she was looking at the Jessie dolls (from Toy Story). She wanted one that talked but I was explaining to her that the talking ones were more expensive and she could only get a small, non talking one with her gift card. After a long thinking time she finally said, "Well maybe I could get a Jessie doll for Christmas...." Haha, it cracked me up the way she said that. So I told her that maybe if she still liked it at Christmas that would be a possibility. She is so funny. I hope she enjoyed a day that was all about her!