Neleha's 3rd Birthday Magically Appears

While Kristy and the girls were in Ohio they got to have a cake and ice cream party for Neleha's birthday and all the family gathered to celebrate her Big 3. So we decided to leave her actual birthday events up to her. When we told Neleha to pick what we would have for breakfast on her birthday, without hesitation doughnuts was chosen. In her mind of course there is only one place for doughnuts, and so Krispy Kreme is where we started off her birthday.


Neleha is growing up right in front of our eyes, she sure is a blessing to us.


We discussed with Neleha her options for celebrating her big day and she decided that she wanted to take the Branson option over going to a local cave, going to the Precious Moments park, or going to the local theme park Celebration City. We told her that she could choose any show in Branson and so we started off at the "2 for 1 Tickets" store. However, Neleha had made up her mind long before we arrived there. You see on the way to Branson you pass about 100 different billboards advertising the many shows and Neleha liked the billboard with white tigers on it. Lucky for us it was a magic show and not some other crazy show.

It didn't take her long to select her show, she first spotted the poster and then the flyer, so we purchased our "Kirby: Prince of Magic" tickets.


The Kirby theater is very nice and a little off the main drag in Branson which made it nice not having to fight the terrible traffic this time of year.



While we waited for the show we all had our fortune read by this machine. Supposedly we are all supposed to either movie stars, musicians, or athletes. I can't wait............yeah right!




A new souvenir that we have started to see at different attractions is minted coins. I am not talking about smashed pennies, but actual minted coins depicting the attraction. Kirby had his own minted coin for sale so we got Neleha and Molly one.

The show started right off and we had a wonderful time trying to keep up with Kirby. His illusions and magic tricks came so fast that it seemed he was starting one seconds before the last was even over.


I didn't get many photos during the first half of the show, I was probably enjoying myself too much. Just as intermission arrived Neleha decided to take a quick nap before the last half started. She must have known that she had a long birthday ahead of her.


Kirby hit stage for another run of illusions and magic.

One particular illusion he acted as if the audience was on the other side of the stage so we could watch how he performed a particular trick. However, he still tricked us all the same.

Neleha was watching Kirby with real intensity, I wonder if she figured out some of his tricks.


One part of the show highlighted a Unicorn which the girls were very amazed by.

Kirby saved the best illusion for last, he made a full size helicopter appear on stage out of no where. That was a tough one to accomplish, he actually discussed with us how he initially came up with this illusion for a live special he did on NBC. It was an amazing illusion.

After the show we checked out the unicorn and stood in line for autographs from Kirby and his wife/assistant Bambi. What amazed me most about this Kirby guy was that at the end of the show he came clean and explained how although at times he appeared to have some super human power, they were only illusions. He explained that only God had super power and that he felt priviledged to be an entertainer and that is all he was, an entertainer. He really seemed to be a genuinely good guy.


Next on Neleha's agenda was the "Fish Museum" as she calls it. Actually it is the National Fish and Wildlife Museum that is owned by Bass Pro. We purchased a membership when we first arrived in Springfield because of the fun the girls had the first time we visited the museum.

Neleha sure loves animal adventures.


Neleha is a big fan of the wildcats that are almost her size. I think that is what she likes about them, being so big.


Kristy and I were talking about Neleha's birthday and we came up with the thought that although we can't give her everything that she may want we did give her this multi-million dollar museum, which isn't bad.

I helped Neleha bring in a huge Sailfish, she is going to be a very good fishergirl just like her sister.


Neleha just loves standing in front of the huge salt water aquarium and watching the sharks swim by.

For dinner Neleha decided on Incredible Pizza of course.

They gave her a bag of goodies for her birthday and a big sticker. Her and Molly really love this place, who wouldn't? All the pizza you can eat and the games and rides to boot, it's a winner every time.

Neleha scarffed down her pizza as fast as she could so she could get to the serious part of Incredible Pizza, the games and rides.

Her and Molly ran from ride to ride and when they ran out of rides they hit the games.


When they ran out of games they hit the playland.


The best part of all was getting to exchange their tickets they won from the games in for prizes. I think this is their favorite part of the experience.

Our last event for Neleha was for her to pick out a toy. This year we went to Wal-Mart and gave her the $5 times her age, so with $15 she set out to spend it well. Neleha is much different than Molly, instead of trying to get the most toys for her buck like Molly, Neleha wants to get the best toy for her buck. This year was no different.

She checked out many toys but finally decided on a new generation Sky Dancer.


I think our three year old had a great time celebrating her birthday, I know we had a great time watching her celebrate it. She is such a blessing to us.