It's My Party and I Can Cry if I Want To!

He did...cry...and party.

Gunner turned 3 and had a wee bit of an emotional birthday. It might have been due to staying up late the previous night watching for owls at a local park program, or simply because...he was having that kind of day. Regardless, we had a fun birthday, complete with presents, chocolate cake and mint- chocolate chip ice cream (as requested).

I think his favorite part was opening gifts. That brought a smile to his face! He opened his Aunt Ashlee's gift and he smiled, then turned to Kit and asked, "Is it for me?" Kit nodded, but he had to be sure, so he asked again, "It's mine?". You should have seen the wattage of that smile...unfortunately it was short lived when his brothers decided to "help" him out by seeing if his toys worked...

Our gift to him was a year membership to our local Living Museum. We went as a family and had a lot of fun. The museum is a hands-on place where children learn about the world around us, complete with an outdoor area dedicated to the animals local to this area. My boys went gaga when they saw a "real-life" bobcat...don't ask me why, but they are really into bobcats right now. They play like they are baby bobcats hiding in dens, etc. so to see one sleeping in the shade was just, you know, amazing!

Currently, they are having a dinosaur exhibit and part of it is an outdoor show where they talk about dinosaurs and other creatures living back then. Josiah answered a question correctly, so he was chosen to come up and be the dinosaur model.

Gavin got to go up and hold a picture of a type of dinosaur and Gunner tagged along. One of the few times he was smiling at the museum...in fact, I believe this is the only picture I got with him smiling while we were there.

The cute, flattering picture I took of my husband...

The oh-so-fab picture my husband took of me...

The boys go to touch some sea creatures including a star fish and this horseshoe crab.

Josiah's depiction of a serious paleontologist as he is digging for dino bones.

We had lunch at the museum and picked up Gunner's choice of cake and ice cream on the way home. No, I don't bake the birthday cakes...

One of the fun things I've been noticing about Gunner getting older is that he is having preferences. It can be a bit of a trial when he decides to be a fashionista and chooses only certain shirts to wear or throws a tantrum about what he wants to eat, but knowing what you like is one of the things I notice my big boys doing as they get older. Gunnison is no longer my little toddler, but he is becoming a sweet, little boy. He has chosen mint chocolate chip ice cream 2 different times when we had gone out for ice cream, instead of just choosing what his brothers had. When he said he wanted it for his birthday ice cream, I asked if he was sure and he told me it was "his favorite". :) I love this stage of big, little boy.

His grin at everyone singing to him.
And, yummo. Eating his favorite ice cream.

Happy Birthday, my big 3 year old!!!

Addendum: Kit claims I did not take a flattering picture of him...it wasn't his "good side", so he thinks we're equal...HA! is what I say to that! :p