Calvin's 3rd Birthday

Friday was Calvin's 3rd birthday.  He was just a little excited to say the least.  He woke up at 5:00 am ready to go! 

I made him pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  After Levi took a nap in the morning we picked Trevor up from work and headed to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose.  It was our first time going and Calvin and Levi loved it!  They had kiddie rides, carousel, a huge play area, petting zoo, regular zoo (it was small, but a good size for toddlers), a puppet theater, and other play areas.  It was a great thing for Calvin to do on his birthday.  Chrissy and Natalie Dix and my friend Sarah all came with their children as well.  Hopefully we will be able to go again soon (seeing as we bought year memberships we better!).

 This is just a cute picture.  Levi loves playing in the dirt.  We are really excited to get grass put in our backyard soon!  A BIG thank you to Wray for helping us till our ground in preparation of laying sod. 

Anyway, here are some pictures we took at Happy Hollow.  Calvin was really excited to get in the park:

 

Here is Calvin on the ladybug ride.  He seemed to think it was better to hold on to the antennas the entire time.  I don't think they had a bar or anything else for the kids to grab a hold of.

These rides were perfect for Calvin.  When Trevor got him off the swing he said, "Daddy I liked that ride!"

 

 Calvin wasn't too sure about having to stand next to Danny the Dragon.

At the petting zoo.  Not sure what Calvin was doing...  You can see Levi (white hat) in the background looking at the animals.

 Apparently there was something really interesting Calvin and Levi were looking at while we were taking this picture.

 What is it with little kids and pushing buttons? :0)

 Trevor and the "2nd cousins" looking at the monkeys.  We really are excited to have more family living closer by.


Calvin looks awake in this picture, but he was actually really tired after our adventure.  Levi didn't make it very far before falling asleep (you can see the remains of his sandwich in his hand).

We then dropped Trevor back off at work and Calvin and Levi decided NOT to take naps (remember Calvin had been up since 5am, Levi took a 15 minute nap in the car).  So instead they played while I made hamburgers (with homemade buns), honeydew, Calvin's birthday cake (I did chocolate with a strawberry filling), and homemade vanilla ice cream. I'd say it was a success.

Here is the train cake I made:

I have an inner conflict between decorating cakes for cuteness and trying to make it healthier.  I just made cream cheese frosting, which was pretty soft to decorate with, but I think it turned out okay in the end.  Calvin seemed to like it which is all that's important.

After dinner and dessert Calvin opened his presents including a cool lego airport from Grandma Marty and a new bike from us.  All-in-all it was a delightful day.

Calvin is a sweet boy and while he is a little boy who can sometimes test my patience *a lot*, he really is good and tries to do what's right.  We love having him in our family and he is a good older brother to Levi.  Some of his favorite songs to sing right now include Jingle Bells (he still requests it almost every night), We Are the Dinosaurs (Laurie Berkner), I love to See the Temple, Nephi's Courage, I Am a Child of God, Popcorn Popping, and lots of others (I guess he just likes to sing a lot!).

Also, here is a picture from when we visited Hank and Leah a few weeks ago.  Trevor's uncle let us ride his Go-Kart.  Calvin had a lot of fun riding on it!  Thanks Uncle McKay!