Unless we have an extremely high adult-to-child ratio, the triplets are rarely allowed to be "uncontained" anywhere but home. For their birthday, I wanted a party where they'd have free rein, with little chance of injury or property damage. However, if you have two-year-old triplets (or you've ever spent time around ours), you know this is a tall order. Because there aren't any padded cells for rent, we decided our church basement was the next best place to turn them loose. And what a great venue it turned out to be! With a few do-overs from William's farm party as well as a few new ideas, we had ourselves a triplet-friendly farm-themed bash...and they had a BLAST! Here are the highlights from their special day:
(I have an abundance of photos. Consider yourself warned. It should also be noted that while the games were the heart of our party, we spent less than $50 on the 5 barnyard activities. We used what we had in the garage, made a few phone calls, and picked up a few odd supplies to bring it all together.)
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| Jason grumbled when I insisted on moving our milking cow from Illinois, but I knew we'd have more fun with this girl someday! |
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| William has good technique! |
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| Pig Pen! We constructed this station with the littlest guests in mind, but it seemed to be a hit with all the kids...even with the occasional popping "pig." |
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| Four lifelong neighborhood girlfriends have become mamas to seven boys.....and one Miss Chloe Margaret. I think it's safe to say she has her pick of prom dates! |
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| The world's most adorable cowgirl and her brother having fun with our boys' cousin, Jaxson. |
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| Caden wrangling "pigs!" |
The church basement has a stage, which made the perfect spot for a barn dance. We strung up straw hats and bandanas for all our little farmers, and because our kids love to play instruments when they dance, we sent the cowbells home with everyone. You're welcome. :)
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| Grandpa Jim and Uncle Jamie getting Jaxson in on the noisemaking. Charlie is good at being loud! |
Our picture station was on the stage too, and made for some pretty funny photos...
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| Our three little birthday animals. Benny, Ikey, and Charlie. |
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| This little piggy is Charlie. |
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| Benny Chicken |
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| And Benny Cow...with chocolate on his face from the chicken coop game. |
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| Pudgy Piggy John John and Chicken Little Henry |
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| Maeve and William. |
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| Jaxson not afraid to stick his neck out!! |
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| I kind of miss the days of guests taking pictures with disposable cameras, so we did a mini polaroid guestbook. My Auntie Sonja is probably one of the world's most creative people, and she constructed the BEST little book for these business-card-size gems. Love it. |
Our chicken coop was a revised version of the one at William's party, but way more fun, in my opinion. Jason built a coop and kids dug for eggs in three tubs: one filled with feathers, one with corn, and one with straw. Even after the M&Ms had been emptied from the eggs, the kids kept digging. Sidenote: If you ever need feathers, don't buy them. They're super expensive when sold as craft supplies. We bought a $14 feather pillow from Kohl's and cut it open instead. I guess I've never seen the inside of a feather pillow, but there were TONS of soft, fluffy, white feathers crammed in there...we only used about 1/3 of the pillow to fill a huge galvanized tub.
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| I love this face. Isaac in the corn tub. |
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| Chloe Margaret showing her Mama the eggs she gathered. |
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| The tubs were big enough for several kids to dig at the same time. Caden, Jaxson, Jay, and Cayden. |
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| Charlie and Great Grandpa. |
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| This duck is making Charlie and Caden a little nervous... |
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| But Rachel and Benny aren't afraid! |
I think the biggest hit, however, was the hay loft slide. Kids went crazy on this thing! A local farmer was kind enough to loan us 30 straw bales and when we topped the pile with a super Pledged table, it was just as good as any park slide. Everyone started on their bottoms, but it didn't take long before the kids were going down head first, backwards, or on their backs! So fun!
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| Here comes Logan! |
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| Little Miss Ruby...weeee!!!!! |
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| Charlie worked up the nerve to give it a try! Brody was a sliding master! |
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| And Benny... |
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| Daddy with William, Ikey, and Benny |
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| Charlie |
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| Benny and William |
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| Charlie and Jaxson |
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| Jack and William |
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| You might be wondering where Ikey was during all this....our little rascal was enjoying the freedom SO much that I could hardly get a shot of him all day. He was constantly on the move! |
Lunchtime...
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| Pa and Ahmie with Ikey, Charlie, and Benny |
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| Henry (8 months old today!) |
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| Uncle, our little Lumber John, and Auntie |
Cake time! The boys weren't eating solids at their first birthday, so this moment was two years coming. We sang three separate times (in birth order) before Ikey grabbed a fistful of his cake and big brother helped blow out the candles.
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| Benny, William, Charlie, and Ikey |
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| Birthday Boys! |
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| Happy Birthday, Benjamin David! |
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| Happy Birthday, Isaac Jason! |
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| Happy Birthday, Charles Robert! |
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| Leave it to Ikey....Great Grandma with quick reflexes! |
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| Our family of seven |
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| Hooray! Let's eat! |
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| Auntie helping Benny Boo dig in |
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| Ikey. It should be noted that Ikey bit off and swallowed a fork tine while chowing down. I was blaming myself for buying cheap Dollar Tree cake forks until I gave him a wooden spoon and he bit through that too! Leave it to Ikey! Next year I'll plan titanium utensils. |
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| Charlie Bear |
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| Getting to work on their cake. Sometimes I don't think they look identical...and then I see a picture like this. |
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| Miss Maeve. Their honorary "sister." |
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| Cowboy Small. Look at those jeans working hard! |
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| A pooped-out Hanky Hoo snuggling up with Great Grandma |
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| Time to pass out treats |
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| Party's over! Thanks for coming! |
Happy Birthday to my sweet two-year-olds!!!
