mason turns 3

and today it's mason's turn - he turns three!  he has been very excited too.  we actually had to have a few discussions about how he didn't turn three on madelyn's birthday or on sunday when we had his party. he was not nearly as opinionated as madelyn about what to do on his big day.  he actually just asked for everything we had done for madelyn's birthday.  but it was a very nice day so i suggested the zoo instead of the museum and he whole heartingly agreed.

we all got a surprise when daddy told us that he would be staying home with us for the day!  that was a very nice treat.  he took mason and madelyn to the driving range after breakfast (mason just wanted cereal for breakfast).  they snuck out so that maddux wouldn't fight being left at home with me.  maddux actually found mason's golf hat as they were leaving and went to give it to him.  after some searching he realized that they had gone.  he was more sad about mason not having his hat than about being left behind.  he and i actually had a nice time at home.  we read books and sang songs together - very nice quality time.  then he helped me gather up and pack up lunch for the zoo.

they were a little longer at the driving range than i had expected so we left the minute they got home.  apparently a lot of people thought that it was the perfect day for the zoo because the parking lot was full!  thankfully, it did not feel crowded in the zoo at all and we had a great day.  (i really like the picture of mason with his feet up - his shoes even match his shorts.)

mason and maddux both ate lunch with their sunglasses on for a while. i was thankful for having brought lunch because the line at the 'cafe' was crazy long!  we were actually done eating before a guy about halfway through the line when we got there was still in line when we left.

i loved how mason studied the aquatic life in each tank carefully so that he could find it on the laminated identification sheet provided for the exhibit.  occasionally he would share the identification with us.

 this is maybe the one time maddux would not turn around and say, "cheese," for a picture.

i didn't get a picture of me with the birthday boy but i did remember to have matt pose with him while we waited for tickets to ride the merry-go-round.

daddy rode with the kids while i stayed with manning.  madelyn is riding a lady bug next to maddux.  apparently she was very concerned that i couldn't see her over there (and i didn't the first few go arounds).

after the zoo we headed home for presents. i love this sequence of pictures where maddux attacks an unsuspecting madelyn (she actually didn't get hurt at all but you can see him getting ready to pull her hair).

mason is the only one who is so greatful for every gift that he takes the time to check out what the clothes look like; madelyn just says something like, "oh a shirt" and tosses it aside without even looking at it.

i really, really wish that this picture wasn't blurry (i took a few trying to get one that wasn't blurry), but i still thought that it was cute enough to post.

i love how sweet mason is most of the time. even though this is his birthday and daddy said he was getting him a present, he still asks if it is for him before getting excited.

and then listen to how he keeps asking where the petals are on his balance bike.  it says that it fits up to a five year old, but it still looks small for mason.

mason really likes all of his bike gear - especially the racing gloves.

isn't he cute all ready to ride?  so tough.

and last came the birthday dinner.  since mason didn't really seem to care what he ate or did on his birthday, we had homemade macaroni and cheese with sliced cucumbers (two things i know he really likes). then i made a pan of brownies since we still had left over cake from madelyn's birthday and ice cream cake from their party.  mason loved it.

our sweet, sweet mason.  it is hard to believe that he is only three.  he is growing up so fast and we are so thankful to have him as part of our family.  love.