A Bronx Birthday

Matt and I both took the day off today to take the boys to the doc (Matthew for his 3 year appointment, Noah for his 5-month). We decided to make the rest of the day a special one for the birthday boy and took Matthew to his first trip to the zoo.
One of the great things about the Bronx Zoo is their Children's Zoo. Matthew kept asking me "What's this?" as I was trying to take his picture at the entrance. That would be his catch phrase for the day.
"I want to be a bird" - yes, my child said that. All because he got to sit in this little nest at the very first exhibit he saw at his very first trip to the zoo.
Matt played tour guide.
And he was also the official "picker-upper" for the day as well.
Matthew had no interest in being a spider. I have taught him well.
He was intrigued with Franklin's shell.
Matt was too.
Matthew was not as amused by this as Matt and I were.
He was amused by King Julian in the Madagascar exhibit.
I can't remember what this exhibit was about - but it's a cute picture, so I couldn't not put in on the blog.
The sea lions weren't very active, but we hung out and waited for them to swim by.
There were neat Lego exhibits throughout the park. Matthew tried to dismantle this one. Thankfully no guards were on duty today.
After lunch we had a little birthday treat - cookies and cream ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. And two spoons.
I forgot Matthew's hat at home and with the sun beating down and Matthew being the sensitive-skinned kid he is, I had to buy him a new one. And if you can believe it, that's the ONLY thing I bought at the zoo today.
Matthew tried to pull off some pieces of this lion too - I don't know when the Lego obsession started!
We took a few rides on the Bug Carousal.
Yes, that's right, The Bug Carousel. Creeped me out, but Matthew enjoyed it.
Then it was a quick stop at the giraffe exhibit (real and fake).
Afterwards, we hit up the Dora & Diego 4D show. We had to hold the glasses on Matthew's tiny head.
Our last exhibit of the day was the monorail through Asia, where we got to see red pandas, tigers and a whole bunch of other species that I can't even remember.
Then we jumped on the shuttle to the parking lot. Matthew made sure we knew where we were going.
Then it was adios Bronx Zoo - see you next time!
Now, Matthew is tucked up in his bed. His first full day as a three-year-old complete. And a good day it was.

Happy birthday my sweet boy! And many more. :-)

Party Central

The party madness began early on Saturday morning. Starting with making cupcakes for the shindig. Matthew wanted to help (I think he just wanted a reason to wear his new super awesome doggie apron).
Matthew's idea of help was squeezing the icing tubes. Fun, but not very productive.
Noah supervised.
Matthew was good at icing the cupcakes. I let him eat his work even though it was 8 o'clock in the morning (because if you can't eat cupcakes on your party day, when can you??!!).
Before the guests arrived I gave Matthew his very own car tattoo. Then I told him to show me his hand. Which I guess, technically, he did.
Once the guests started to arrive, the insanity began. The swingset got quite a workout on Saturday.
There was lots to eat - including the kid-friendly mac&cheese and chicken nuggets.
We had a built-in babysitter for Noah for the day.
We also had a built-in pinata holder. The tallest person at the party is always my brother. Therefore he is always the pinata holder.
And as usual, there was madness when the right string was finally pulled.
Matthew's birthday present got quite a workout too.
We had cupcakes for dessert.
And of course, CAKE!!!
Matthew used to hate the birthday song when he was younger, but now gets that the song = cake. So all is good.
We were happy to see a lot of our family and friends.
And the kids were happy to run around like maniacs for a few hours.
After the guests left Matthew opened up his present from grandma and grandpa.
His very own boom box - with a load of CDs to go with it.
And at the end of the day, we were all exhausted. And we all pretty much did this:
And tomorrow, when we wake up, Matthew will OFFICIALLY be 3.

Preparations are under way...

T-Minus a little over 24 hours until party time. There is A LOT to do...

Tonight - after lights out - I'll make cupcakes.
Accessories on standby.
Tomorrow morning I'll rip open the packages of the decorations.
And I'll fill the pinata.
The party bags will be transferred from the office (with the awful lighting), to the kitchen.
At 10AM, I'll head over to Party City to get a few huge obnoxious balloons.


Then I'll pick up the food at BJs. I'll return home to help put out the tables, set up the outdoor toys and get the 2 beasts - I mean, the 2 angels, of course - dressed for the day.

Party time is 12 sharp.

We'll be ready!

Oh, and the weather - yeah, I think we'll be okay!