Avery turns 3!

Avery turned 3 on July 4th, 2011.

I decided to make her a rainbow cake and this is the finished product. The outside wasn't my favorite, but the inside was awesome.

This is what the inside looked like before it was baked. You can see it after it was baked at the end of the post.

We started the day with a parade in Avery's honor (or at least that's what she thought! She still doesn't know that all the cool things the community does on the 4th of July aren't just for her birthday, and we're going to keep it that way for as long as possible.) The kids collected a ton of candy.

Then I let the girls do some finger painting...with frosting. I had a bunch of leftover frosting from Avery's cake so I let them dig into that and make some pictures. Avery preferred to paint herself rather than the paper, of course.

In the afternoon we all went to a fun place for kids where there were roller coasters and bumper cars and carousels...and a diner. Avery and I got a hot dog and soda at the counter together. I'm so glad I got to be her date on her birthday!

Grandma Jensen threw a great birthday party complete with delicious food and some of the people Avery loves best from both sides of her family. She couldn't wait to tear into her gifts and loved all of them.

She was very excited about her Rapunzel doll.

And her Princess book kept her entertained the entire drive home from Utah to California. Anything that has music is a hit with Avery.

Then she blew out her candles and we cut open the cake.

And this is what it looked like on the inside! Rainbow inside and out. She loved it.

We hope you had a wonderful day, Avery Jane! Thanks for being our sweet 3-year old girl and for all the laughter and smiles you bring to our family every day. We love you!

(Then we ended the day with firecrackers...still for her of course. Both girls loved them.)

Happy Fourth of July! 2 great ladies were born this day...America and Avery!