Paul's Three!

On Thursday, April 2, Paul celebrated his third birthday! The night before, Michael and I had set up a birthday banner and put out all his presents so he could open them throughout the day. When he woke up, he was very excited about his presents and had to start opening them immediately!

 

What a goober!

 

He opened his soccer ball first and had to play. He was so excited that it was green, which is his favorite color.

It was great because after each toy, he wanted to play for a while before he was ready to move on to the next present.

So excited about all the train stuff!

A happy boy opening his Planes Fire and Rescue -- probably his favorite movie.

A doll from his cousins Lily and Laurel! He loves "her" -- he insists on it being a girl.

After each present, he would say "Wow!," taking time to play with each new toy. It took a while for us to get dressed and eat breakfast, but we managed. After breakfast, I gave him a choice of fun for the day: lunch and the park, lunch and a movie or the zoo. He immediately said "Zoo!" We had never been to the Knoxville Zoo, despite being zoo members in Nashville and Memphis. It was so cold for the first two months that I didn't think it would be worth it to us. But I was eager to see what this new zoo would be like!

Paul wanted to wear his new backpack to the zoo. Thanks for the cool bag, Grammy! He packed a few circus animals, wagons and even Hiro before we left. He was very proud of his cool backpack! He did pretty well at the zoo but he was more interested in finding a playground than seeing the animals. He ranged from needing to be carried because his knees hurt (frequent complaint) and needing to run as fast and far as he could. Exhausting extremes for me! Especially since I was just finally feeling better from being sick all week but still hadn't managed to eat full or regular meals yet.

Of course we had to ride the train!

The zoo had lots of fun kids areas inside. Paul especially enjoyed this "research station" where he used test tubes to fill up bowls with rubber mulch from the play area close by. He then put them on trays and added cups for drinks. It was very proper and neat!

Checking for quality is all I can figure out.

He set up three trays like this! I was impressed.

Oh, and also, how cute are those glasses he found?

He ran out of cups on the last one.

Handling the cash register at the market.

Spring in Tennessee is just gorgeous! I had to have him sit by the flowers for a few pictures.

We found the outdoor kids area about 30 minutes before closing time at the zoo. They had a great sand area and Paul spent the rest of the time playing there.

Right as we left, it started to rain! That just added to the fun. We were both exhausted from our big day at the zoo. We were so happy when Dad got home soon after us!

We saved a few things to open with Dad home.

Too bad we didn't open this one before we went to the zoo! Paul loved this umbrella from Felicity!

The big present from Dad this year was his very own baseball glove and a few baseballs!

He already has great aim.

And he caught one too!

We had hot dogs for dinner and Paul blew out three candles stuck in a mini cupcake. Throughout the day, whenever we would say "happy birthday" he would respond with "happy birthday to you too!" It was a great birthday!