Daphne Marie Turned Three!

On June 5, Daphne turned 3-years-old.  It was her first birthday she has really understood what was going on enough to be excited.  We put her to bed the night before, but she kept creeping out, trying to catch a glimpse of the decorations we were hanging up and the presents being wrapped.  It was hard to send her back to bed when she was so giddy with anticipation for the big day.  

Burke took the day off work and we started early in the morning by giving Daphne her main gift - a bike!  She couldn't wait to test it out and ran straight for her pink cowgirl boots before jumping on....annnnnd promptly falling right off.  However (this is something I absolutely love about my Daphne girl), after a hug and a few tears, she got right back in the saddle, willing and ready to try again.  Another thing I love about Daphne is that she doesn't get frustrated when she's trying something new and it takes her a minute to catch on.  For example, it took quite a bit of practice to get the concept of forward motion through her mind.  She would push the pedals down a half rotation and then slam on the brakes.  Forward - brake!  Forward - brake!  It took close to 15 minutes before she went more than a few feet forward at a time.  Instead of getting upset, she would just smile and say "donk!" every time she lurched to a stop when accidentally hitting the brakes yet again.  

A couple of weeks ago I made this little video of the progress she has made since the morning of her birthday.  It's been so tender to me to watch such amazing growth in her in such a short amount of time.  Needless to say, she has loved the bike!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWar1E3wiA8

Although she was old enough to finally understand this was her special day, we didn't think she was old enough to be offended if we snuck off for our anniversary getaway (remember our anniversary is the day after her birthday!) in the evening as long as she had beloved cousins and grandparents to distract her.  

After spending a leisurely morning on the bike, opening a few other gifts and playing together as a family, we loaded up and drove over to Parowan where we found Sadie, Macie, Laney and Aubrey anxiously waiting for the birthday girl with a birthday sign on the front porch.  They are such darlings!  Grandma Marie had a birthday cake in a can as well as a bucket full of darling pink gifts (towel, bubbles, shovel, etc), so obviously Daphne had no problem with us leaving.

Right before we left, Daphne and the girls convinced Grandma to get out the wading pool, which had a few cracks in it.  But leave it to our redneck men to duck tape a plastic table cloth to the pool and viola!  No leaks!  We left her happy as a clam, splashing and squealing with her cousins.

After a great getaway together (more on that later), we picked Daphne up the next night and headed home to begin preparations for a birthday party on Saturday.  It was a relatively simple party.  We borrowed Alan and Marie's rad bouncy-house slip'n'slide, filled up a wading pool, gave all the kids squirt guns and let them go wild.

Burke barbecued burgers and hot dogs (check out that horrid hat with the beaver flap he's become attached to this summer. Stylin.) so we could eat and visit while watching the kids dart around.  Seriously, way low key, but I think everyone had a good time, kiddos and adults included.  

As we were finishing lunch I had a horrible moment where I realized I never finished decorating Daphne's cake!  Marie helped me whip up frosting and Krissy and Burke took over the M&M placement resulting in this beauty.  

An extra special treat for Daphne was having her Grandpa Bush down for the birthday party.  My Pop had driven all the way down from Logan with a couch from my Grandma Bush that we were going to put in the basement, but it didn't fit around the basement corner!  Doh!  He was so nice to stay for Daphne's party and help with all the preparations in the morning.  Daphne followed him around all morning and he was SO helpful blowing up wading pools and water balloons.  

Everyone was so generous and spoiled this kiddo rotten with gifties, including relatives across the country.  A big thanks to Kellie for sending the Curious George magnet set and book, Mumsie for Daphne's singing Cinderella card (Burke goes around singing, "Every girl can beeeee a princess" quite regularly now") and Auntie Ellen and Uncle Gabe for the darling Minnie Mouse card and crown.  You are all so kind.