the party

We only invited a few friends (three of her closest friends since she is 3) - kids Eden hangs out with on a regular basis.

There was Keegan (and mom, Marie, and little brother, Conner) ...

... Tommy (and his little brother Brian and parents, Lenae and Tommy) ...

... and Caroline (and her sister, Camille, and mom, Shelley).

And, of course, family who could make it this year.

When people got there and the kids couldn't wait any longer, we released them to the backyard and the amazing box castle.

Eden was rather excited (we did not let her go near the back door until about 15 minutes prior to everyone's arrival - and even then it likely felt like a lifetime to her). She went immediately to the drawbridge, opened it, and crawled inside.

We cut several windows in the corner pieces so the little ones could peak out at everyone.

But the biggest hit was the interior - there was one door to the inside of the castle. It took them a while to find it, but when they did they seemed to have a blast looking out at everyone, throwing balls in and out, and generally going crazy.

Even baby Conner had to take a peek.

Then it was time for gift bags for the party goers - filled with stickers (to place on the castle) and a microphone (lots of singing going on).

At some point Eden decided that the castle was actually her doctor's office [she was the doctor] - she would call out names and say, "It's time for your appointment" and everything. Interesting.

Along the way (before and after we ate), we opened presents. One of those presents was a tee-ball set from Granddaddy and CC.

Everyone lined up to hit and came back for more ...