Owen enters year number 4

Owen turned 3 on Dec 15th. It's the same birthday as his mother who aged in number only. We had a little party at the house complete with a gluten free cake (we're experimenting with a few dietary things) and lots of Thomas the Tank Engine stuff. We were grateful for grandparent participation as well with artwork, vegan chocolate (no milk...again part of the great diet experiment), and more Thomas stuff. We all had a great time and lots of sugar.

We then had Owen's "friend" birthday party a few days later. I always remember having a "family" and a "friend" birthday party. I have now learned that having multiple birthday parties is not all that common and I should be grateful for such energetic parents which I definitely am. They even had a sleepover party at my grandparents cabin (they did this for my siblings as well). I now realize the herculean effort that required. I can't say I love my kids that much yet, but I probably will.

Anyway, the "friend" party was at the local glow-putt (indoor miniature golf with glowing balls). Carol made some incredible snowmen cupcakes and fun was had by all. Owen did really like the putting and the kids actually lasted almost 90 minutes before attempting to beat each other with the putters (I actually thought this would happen at about 10 minutes in). No injuries to report thankfully and we're already looking forward to next year. The girls had fun playing with Owen's stuff as much or more than he did. Hits included a play dough kit and some type of foam stuff which dad had to sort after Beth accidentally mixed the colors (this is really not fun). Pictured is the "spaghetti and meatballs" from the play dough kit.

More photos here.

Happy birthday buddy!