where a kid can be a kid

for months, the big boys (trace and caden) have been seeing chuck e cheese commercials on tv. and every time trace saw one, he would tell anyone who would listen "dat's where i'm hafin my birfday at." so this mama had a brilliant idea to have a combined birthday party with caden (who will be 4 soon) and trace (who recently turned 3) at CEC. (when brothers marry sisters, and the kids are double first cousins, it just makes things easy to have a joint party. like the invites said "it's double the fun, with 2 birthday parties in one! ha. cheesy i know. but it worked!) anyways, i've heard horror stories of CEC hell, and how awful, expensive, terrible, etc the party was. well i'm happy to say, we had a great experience! we didn't purchase the "official" birthday package, so that def saved us some money. but we partied, ate pizza and cake, the kids had a blast, the parents hung out and talked, and even played a few games as well! (yes i admit, i am addicted to a game a CEC. however, i won a ton of tix for trace, so who cares!) ha. a lot of friends and family came, and though it was a little crazy at times, and we got fussed at for being a fire hazard, the party went great and i think it was a huge success! hardly any set up or clean up, which is always a plus in my book! please forgive me for not editing these pics... and ignore the red eyes! :)

the birthday boys!

trace was terrified of CEC, but lucas was quite intrigued! i love this pic of lil man grabbing his big nose!
poppi vs trace :)

cupcake time..... let me just say, when the bday boy wants batman, you get batman. black icing and all! :)

this stuff stained his teeth/mouth for 3 days!! but how cute is he??

presents!!

woo hoo. batman shoes. awesome!

daddy and luc luc

trace sliding... wheeee

trace was having a blasty blast!

lucas... not so much. lol

just a little bit of the loot!

i think that trace's 3rd birthday party will always be one to remember! he had a great time, and is still talking about it. now when we see the CEC commercials, we get to hear "WOOK! dat's where i had my birfday at!" :)

happy birthday trace and caden! we love you sweet boys!