Tyson's Mario Kart Invitational

My little man turned three this past weekend. Three! Realistically this is probably our last kid so seeing him grow up is saddening. I want him to remain two forever (my favorite age). Being two is awesome because they still have their baby fat (super cute), are able to talk (mixed with some incoherent words), are completely mobile (which might be a bad thing), and are still innocent (sort of). I don't remember Tyson exhibiting the "terrible twos" so hopefully we dodged a bullet with that or maybe he's just waiting until now to show us the new "terrible threes".

Tyson loves Mario Kart. He's beyond obsessed with this game. Last year or so when he was introduced to Mario Kart Wii, he would constantly nag us to play every hour, every day. It got so bad that I had to just pack it up and hide it away. After several months past, I brought it back out. This time he understood that he could only play once a day and once he got his fix, there was no more nagging. But he would not stop talking about it. He would read his Mario Kart book. Play with his Mario toy figures. Talk about different race situations he encountered. "Remember, papa. Remember I boom him. I fall in the water." Then we got Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS. So he played that. And then Target had a two day sale on electronics so I got the Wii U, along with Mario Kart 8. Yeah, I'm just adding fuel to the fire that is his Mario Kart addiction.

So naturally, a Mario Karty 8 party was the best way to celebrate his third birthday. I had setup a tournament for all ages and had trophies for each division. It was fun and intense.

Cake by Lynn.

From crazy eyes and pure excitement to completely stoic, I love the kids' reactions. 

Blowing out the candles.

Trophies for the divisional champs.

Intense championship battle in the Mario Division.

Mario Division champ (age 5 & under).

Toad Division champ (age 6-11).

Time for the adults to get into the mix.

The bracket.

Bonus footage. Here's a video of me interviewing Tyson and I'm asking him what kind of birthday party he wants.