At Home with the Leymons: Happy 3rd Birthday Madeline

We had cake at home for Madeline's birthday, and then we did her big party at Gymboree. We wanted to do something that would entertain a lot of kids (we had 18) and that would make it easy for us. Gymboree fit the bill for both. You bring a cake, drinks for adults and your kid - that's it. They take care of everything else. They even supply plates and such. It was great!

Here are a few from Thursday when she opened some family presents. She never opens clothes and has to put them on immediately, but she tore all her clothes off and put on this outfit from Uncle Greg and Aunt Debbie. It's so cute, and she looked cute opening her stroller from Grandma Marilyn and Grandpa Lee.

this shirt from Grandma Rita says "cameras love me"

And now the Gymboree fun. This cake came out perfect for her Minnie Mouse themed event. I'm so glad I figured out that Sam's offers a wide variety of cake designs. We love Costco cakes but they are pretty limited in what they'll do for decorations.

She had us worried. For the first 20 or so minutes, she sulked around. I envisioned spending the whole party holding her in the corner.

Charlotte settled in much faster.

But soon she was go-go-go, and it didn't stop.

With her friend Kate. Kate is moving up with her to the next room in a few weeks, so I'm glad they got to spend some time together.

And her boyfriend Julien. He's going to be heartbroken because he's not old enough to move up to the next room with her in a few weeks. I love Kate's reaction to them hugging.