Keane and Gracie's "Under the Sea" 3rd Birthday Party

I can't believe that Keane and Gracie are 3 years old. The time has just flown by in many ways and I know that the trend will continue. It is my hearts desire that I would cherish each and every little moment, funny saying, sweet hug and kiss and all the laughter (and even the tears) each day. I don't always do that well but it is what I am striving for. Keane and Gracie are truly gifts from God and I love them more than I ever dreamed possible. Since we were in Thailand for their actual birthday we waited until we got back to Nepal to have their birthday party. They were so excited to be able to have all of their little friends (23 kids most of which were under the age of 5...and they were from 4 different countries) over to play games, eat cake and open presents. Their friends were all so generous with the gifts they gave and we all had a really fun afternoon together.

While we were in Thailand I decided to do an "under the sea" theme for their party since K and G love the beach, the water, the sand and all the creatures and shells that can be found "under the sea". Putting a themed birthday party together in Nepal can be a bit of a challenge but with a lot of planning, some Internet research, a lot of searching (and rummaging) through different stores, I was able to find all I needed to pull the theme off! I also brought back a lot of shells from Thailand and the kids loved those! Here is a little glimpse into the afternoon:

Keane HAD to have a birthday hat. On Little Einsteins and Dora they have birthday hats at birthday parties and his party just wouldn't have been complete without his hat. He wore it most of the time!

I made homemade caramel popcorn with blue sugar sprinkles and ocean gummies. I had to SEARCH all over Kathmandu for ocean shaped gummies. To be honest I really didn't think I would find them but on my last trip to the store WAY in the back on the BOTTOM shelf were lots of ocean gummies! It was a small miracle. I was SO happy!



Sorry some of these pics are turned the wrong way...I can't figure out how to fix it. For another snack I made blue ocean jello cups. They had ocean gummies floating in them too with umbrella straws.



Ocean cupcakes

These were my beach pudding cups. They were vanilla pudding with cookie crumbles on top for sand and some more ocean gummies on top...and of course the umbrellas (another RANDOM find in Kathmandu).

Fish and star(fish) peanut butter and nutella sandwiches. For Christmas Ryan's parents sent me a tub full of 100 cookie cutters. Inside was a fish and a star...perfect for the party!

Keane and Gracie and their friends really had a great time. That is what was most important to me. I think they felt really special too! Gracie HAD to have a birthday crown. She is my little princess!

Trying to get a family birthday picture...

Keane and Gracie opening some gifts. We told our friends not to bring gifts but many of them still did...we are very blessed!

One of the 7 different games/activities we played. Thanks to my friend Summer (and several of the other moms who stayed for the party) we were able to pull all the games off successfully (with minimal chaos))...this game the kids dug in the "sand" (a bucket of dried beans and noodles) for sea shells and prizes.

Gracie digging for her treasures

For this game the kids just had to throw the big fish into the different buckets to win prizes. It was super simple but they loved it!

More digging

The kids then made a starfish craft where they added glue and "sand" (local wheat grits) to a cut-out of a starfish to add texture like a real starfish. 

The kids also each painted 2 real seashells

My birthday princess

Singing Happy Birthday (K and G LOVE to sing Happy Birthday and LOVED it when their friends sang to them!)



Blowing out the candles (my friend Summer made Gracie's dress...isn't it beautiful?)



Opening more gifts!

Many of the kids wanted to see the presents they were opening

Then it was time for "pin the tail on the turtle"...thanks to my artistic husband, Ryan, we had a beautiful turtle and many small tails to make this game a success!

The "Happy 3rd Birthday Keane and Gracie" banner I made for them!

We also had a game where they "went fishing" and caught paper fish with paper clips using a magnetic fishing pole to win prizes and we had tons of "under the sea" coloring sheets for the kids to color. Other than that, the kids just LOVED playing together, playing in K and G's room, with all their toys and eating fun goodies! It was a crazy busy day but it was totally worth it! I was exhausted when it was all over but we have tons of great memories from it all!

Happy 3rd Birthday Keane and Gracie. I am so thankful I get to be your Mommie!