Emma's 3rd Birthday Party!

We had a great afternoon to celebrate Emma's 3rd birthday with her friends last Saturday, which was good because we ended up with 21 kids not counting the two that live there. The theme of the year was Dora the Explorer since that is one of Emma's favorite shows although that and the Mickey Mouse Club do run neck in neck for the top spot. Emma and her guests spent the first part of the party playing in the sandbox, playing in the play house, tormenting the dogs next door, and whatever else they could think of.

Chase!

Cute girls!

Check out the way he is eyeing the lens!
Best purchase I ever made...the inflatable crocodile, not Josh of course.

Before we headed upstairs for cake, we had to go on an adventure of course. It wouldn't have been a true Dora party without an adventure. As it turns out, Swiper had swiped all the stars from the night sky and Dora needed the help of Emma and her friends to return the stars to the sky. After we got everybody situated with a backpack, we checked our maps to see where we needed to go. The first stop was crocodile river where they had to tiptoe by the angry crocodile. The second stop was snake rock and the kids had to climb up and jump off of snake rock taking care not to be bitten. Finally, they had to climb the tall ladder and put their star back by the moon in the night sky. They did a great job and had so much fun on the adventure. There aren't too many photos from the adventure because I think Brad was getting some video or chasing down Josh (either are viable options).

Outfitted with backpacks and checking the map!
We did it! We did it! We did it! Hooray!

After all the excitement, we headed upstairs for some cake and to play a little more before everybody headed home. It was remarkable how little mess was left in the house in the wake of all those children. Their parents are awesome!

It was amazing how quiet it got once the house emptied. It was definitely a wild ride but Emma had so much fun and got lots of great gifts from her friends.