A big day for a three year old

Saturday the 31st of March was Leo's third birthday. He'd been counting down the days for a few weeks. Mare and I had determined we'd be best to give him his present right away, first thing. Mare had secured a large drawstring bag (think Santa Claus) to place the large new toy John Deer front end loader into. He was thrilled, of course. It was big and looked fun as heck.

I rounded them up and we ate bread and jelly for breakfast, ate our vitamins and I drank my fiber ( old much?) then we headed down to Forest park where we'd reserved the big shelter house for Leo's birthday party. We arrived a half hour early so the boys would be able to play some before the guests arrived. The grass hadn't been mowed all over the park, so the boys' feet and legs were soaked with tall grass dew right away. Mare and I unloaded all the "gee-dunk" that goes along with a three year old's birthday party, and decorated minimally. I walked around with Henry on the front carrier for a bit.

Some of Leo's friends from the library attended with their siblings and parents and they all had a blast playing on the playground equipment together. Mare had spent the previous evening making a birthday cake that resembled a turtle which we put Leo's three lit candle into for him to blow out. We served up "juice" barrels and individual ice cream cups for everyone and cupcakes for those who didn't get the turtle cake. We sang happy birthday and opened presents and Leo was very good about not being greedy and sharing his toys and saying thank you to the right people.

Next we attended a city sponsored Easter egg hunt in a separate park which was a big hit, despite the unseasonably warm temperatures. Jack didn't have such great success in his age group, but Leo did well. Mare's b.f.f. Lisa's son Cash went as well and did real well finding the eggs.

After the egg hunt we went home quickly and the boys played for a bit in the new deposit of sand dad had brought them that morning as part of Leo's b-day present. Then we drove fast for Topeka to the zoo. There we walked around for a couple hours and saw a tiger, lions, gorillas, an orangutan, hippo, giraffes, and elephants. Also, a bunch of people at the zoo who by far looked wilder than the animals.Directly across the street from the zoo entrance is Gage park. It was b-u-s-y! The boys were wanting to go there, so after the zoo closed we let the boys play where they wanted. Mare and Henry and Jack went one way, I and Leo went another way.It's a good, big park and the boys played on almost everything for over two full hours before we called "calf-rope!" and made them leave just before the sun went down.

At home they got a hot bath and were sent to bed where they dropped like full sacks once they hit the rack. Matter of fact, mom and dad hit the rack and went right to sleep also.

The boys were good all day despite having no real naps and all the excitement and change in schedule. We've got another big day planned for Jack's 5th birthday coming up on Friday the 13th! Before that, we will travel to Lawrence for my father-in-law's 60th birthday party on Saturday, and then to Humboldt on Sunday for Easter at Irene's.

Big few weeks. No school tomorrow on good Friday. I hope to mow the yard and edge it and get it looking nice. I hope all is well with my dedicated followers. I wish all the full blessings of God on all of you and your families and friends and those families and friends of my own.

thanks for reading.