3rd Birthday Beach Bash

In an effort to give my baby what he wanted for his birthday ("I wanna go to the beach mamma!") and save money - I decided to do Jackson's 3rd birthday party at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. When we arrived at 9:30am it was peaceful. A few hours later it was total chaos and I was wondering if I was at my own wedding... 2 minutes with each guest and then OH NO, where is my kid? Run, run, run. Shoot I haven't taken any pictures. Did I talk to that person yet? It felt like we were there for 10 minutes and in reality it was 4 hours. WOW, I was in a daze.

First things first - the most important part of any beach trip is the HOLE...well, after the sunscreen. My dad (Grandpa Eddie) digs a big hole and Owen helps.

Next most important thing: the birthday present
&

Family Portrait

before the chaos began he dug right in and opened his present

a sweet boogie board from Dad
he squeeled with joy and took a few victory laps before actually trying it out

catching his first wave


even though he was shivering (the water was really warm though) he wanted "more, more, more mamma! I want to go surfin'!"

he also loved to be pulled around really fast and eventually fly off

I think he died and went to toddler heaven!
I also played with him in the water but since I'm the photographer there is no documentation of that... oh well, I'm used it by now.
Checkin' in with Mom and watching Daddy demonstrate proper sponging technique.
This is my favorite picture of the day =)

Friends arrived and had lots of toddler fun in the sand

So good to see old friends! Ha ha, not that old but it's been almost a year since I hung out with
Nicole, Gray and Ruby Watkins. Katie, Chloe, and Lee Baker watching the waves.
Little baby Madeline hangin' loose

Pretty ladylike pose by Brooke Baker
Time for the long awaited and talked about Thomas the Train birthday cake. He has seriously been talking about this since he was 2 1/2. "Two and a hap."
Big thanks to the Cake Lady for doing an excellent job on such short notice - I totally lag in July.
Yes, Thomas is number 1. I ordered the cake with a 3 for Jackson's 3rd birthday because I didn't want to bring candles to the beach.He must think it's his birthday for an entire week.... this is the 3rd "party" he's had! Beth (his sitter) gives him one, we give him one on his actual birthday, and then the big party with friends and family.
3 for 3!

It wasn't a big cake. just enough for all the kids to enjoy... and a few cake addict addults.
We were exhausted and hungry at the end of the day. I packed lots of food but had no time to eat it. Luckily I fed the kids a little but not quite enough so I got Jackson some drive through chicken (eeewwww) 2 minutes after leaving the beach. Owen never even had a chance to make it through the drive through - he'd been awake since 5:30 am! 30 seconds in the car and he was a goner! Even my dad fell asleep....It was a great day. I love the beach and thankfully so do my little men.
Happy Birthday Jackson!