Griffin was sick with adnovirus the whole weekend and the next couple of days leading up to his birthday. His birthday was the first day he was really feeling better. We let him open our presents as soon as he woke up. He had been wishing for quite some time to get the Thomas the Train roundhouse (or "station") for his birthday. He had been to If It's Paper with me the day before and even picked out some firetruck wrapping paper, telling me, "Momma, this is what I want my station to be wrapped in." Well, a little boy's wishes came true and he got the train station wrapped in firetruck paper. He got a few other little presents (and a booster seat for my car since he was now old enough and tall enough), but he was completely focused on getting the station out of the box and building a new train track with it.
We were supposed to have a family birthday dinner at Chuck E. Cheese on the night of his birthday, but we postponed it until the following night to make sure he would be fully recovered and ready to party. He definitely was! He had been asking for months to go to Chuck E. Cheese, and he got so excited when we pulled in the parking lot and he saw the sign. And the inside lived up to his expectations, too--he loved all of the rides and games! My favorite part of the night was when we were about to do cake and Griffin turned to Harper and said, "My momma made me a Lightning McQueen birthday cake!" The sweetest part was that he didn't know anyone other than Harper was listening--he was really just proud of his cake and his momma! It was a very fun and special night shared with Mimi & Papaw Al, Aunt Holly & Uncle Jason, Harper, Weezy, Mamere, Pop & Chaz, Bebe, and Aunt Lacy.
The celebrating continued with a party at the Knoxville Zoo on Saturday for Griffin and his little friends. The kids "fished" for animals, worked oversized animal puzzles, touched an alligator skin, a red panda skin, an elephant tusk, and a rhino horn, and even pet a rat (surprisingly, I did not find this completely disgusting since it was a clean white rat, not the kind of subway rat that comes to mind!). And, of course, there was more birthday cake!
After the party, the three of us, Jason and Harper, Mimi, and Weezy stayed at the zoo for a while longer. The giraffes are Griffin's very favorite so we had to make a stop there, and we checked out the penguins, butterflies, and elephants on the way to the giraffes. We also went for a carousel ride and Griffin took several trips down the slides at the Kids' Cove. We went through the gift shop on the way out, and Mimi and Weezy bought Griffin a special birthday stuffed giraffe. Griffin was wiped out by the end of the trip, and he was asleep with his giraffe before we even got out of the parking lot.
On Friday before Halloween, Griffin had a costume parade and Halloween party at school. That night, we went to the Halloween party at The Little Gym. 
Griffin and I carved a jack-o-lantern on Saturday. He didn't want to touch any of the "yucky" stuff inside, but he definitely wanted to be in charge of the design. He insisted on circle eyes and a triangle nose. 
Finally, on Sunday, we concluded the Halloween festivities with trick-or-treating at Weezy's house (that's Weezy dressed as a witch)... 
around Forest Brook, where he really got the hang of ringing the doorbell and saying "trick or treat" and "thank you"...
and at Aunt Lacy's house with Harper. After getting their treats, Griffin and Harper played a long round of peek-a-boo around a big tree in Lacy's yard. Harper was supposed to be a princess for Halloween since she loves princesses, but she decided she wanted to be a pink poodle because Griffin was a dog.
I can't believe my sweet boy is three! His birthday was Wednesday and we celebrated from then until Saturday. I will be sure to blog about the birthday parties (yes, plural)...but first I wanted to take a little time to capture some of Griffin's favorite things right now.
