In addition to Joshua's celebrations this month, we also want to wish a very "Happy Birthday" to: 
Aunt Hilary, who's special day was September 20,
Grant, who turned four on Wednesday, September 23,
Aunt Gayle, who celebrated on September 25,
and my sister Jen, who's big day is today. Happy birthday, everyone! Hope you all have a great year!
Aunt Hilary, who's special day was September 20,Grant, who turned four on Wednesday, September 23,
Aunt Gayle, who celebrated on September 25,
and my sister Jen, who's big day is today. Happy birthday, everyone! Hope you all have a great year!
We arrived 20 minutes early to set up the cake and get the kids acclimated to the environment. Both boys were enjoying playing with all the various equipment set up.
Next to arrive was Jasmine & Austin (friends from LHOP), followed by my MOPS friend Margie & her son Henry (pictured below).
Pretty soon Grandma & Ken arrived with Jen's three girls Grace, Faith & Emma. Here's Mom with John, my youngest nephew, and Great Grandma Good is in the background.
Here are Grace & Emma.
Brian & Gayle arrived next with Grant & Jenavieve. 
I don't remember thereafter because everyone else was late at that point...and Joshua was anxious to get started!
And Caleb was happy just to play!
I loved this picture of the boys 'see-sawing' in the boat.
Below are Isabella & Abby, daughters of our lifegroup friends.
And here's Daddy & Caleb, enjoying hanging out together.
And the happy Momma girl, who felt like she might sweat to death. :) :) :)
We chose the theme "trains" since Joshua loved his experience at "Day Out with Thomas" and continues to talk about riding on the train. He was excited when they said that we were going to pretend to be trains. The first group activity was a tunnel that they crawled through and 'chugged' and whistled in.
All the kids (or at least most) got in line to go through...here comes cousin Daniel.
And next Henry decided to take a turn!
Even Caleb decided it looked like fun and took a turn...
He looked at the Gymboree host to make sure she was okay with him coming through the green ring.
Afterward, Austin asked Joshua if he wanted to go in the boat together. Other kids heard "boat" and ran for it. Poor Austin didn't get to go in for a looong time, but I was amazed at his patience in waiting for an opportunity.
Finally someone got up and I helped him jump in next to Joshua!
And they both enjoyed riding!
Soon the party hosts were calling folks back over for the 'train' ride. When they asked me what he liked last year, I remembered he liked this log roll. They say "children, children, sitting on a wall...children, children, had a great fall" and they roll it forward so the kids fall off of it (gently onto a mat). Joshua thought this was FANTASTIC! I think the other kids loved it, too. From left to right there's Grace, Lael, Austin, Joshua, Genevieve and Emma (with other kids on the outskirts).
This time, Joshua was in between Isabella & Emma. He rode every time!
At this point, I was wondering where Caleb got to. He was being entertained by Nonie!
Here's a group shot of the play room.
Next, they rolled out the parachute and broke out the bubbles. They said that Joshua got the first round of bubbles to himself for being the birthday boy, but that didn't work out too well. Soon the rest of the kids joined the couple in the front.
After bubble time, which was a huge hit, it was parachute time. We sang songs and ruffled the parachute while the kids were on top, then we let the kids go under and pulled it up and down.
And we all made a big 'tent' with it, too. Caleb in particular thought this part was F-U-N! He squeeled with delight and ran all around underneath the parachute, laughing and clapping his hands.
While this picture is kind of fuzzy, it shows Caleb next to Ben, Shawn's cousin's Don's son (say that ten times fast!). 
After parachute time, it was time for cake. I bought the cake at Giant, and I thought they did a great job decorating it.
It tasted good, too!
Here's the birthday boy, blowing out his candles!
And chewing on his fingers...which he's been doing a lot lately (what a great way to catch germs - UGH!).
And here are other folks enjoying the quick treat before heading back for more play time!
Soon the party was over and it was time to hand out the goodie bags and balloons to our family & friends. We loaded the gifts into our car and headed home to open them after a special birthday dinner. Here's the Bean with his gift from Nonie & Poppy...
Here are Joshua & Caleb trying to play with the clock from Grandma & Ken.
And a picture of Joshua with some of his presents. It was a really fun day!
So, I wasn't sure which of my plans for him to keep and which ones to cancel. I thought a nice big breakfast (the one meal he typically eats) might be a fun treat, and I invited my mom to join us. We rode together to Oregon Dairy up the street, where Joshua had maybe two bites of pancake and two strips of bacon. He LOVED the tops that were part of his goody bag, along with the teddy graham crackers (which he ate before his meal came). He also received a little cake to take home for his birthday, which I thought was nice, and a "good start breakfast" box for each kiddo.
After breakfast, we let the boys play on the playground outside for a little bit. It had rained that morning, though, so it was pretty wet. Soon we decided to head back home, where Joshua laid down for a morning nap. When he woke up, we had a message from Grandpa Georgia where Joshua held a conversation with the answering machine (Dad said "Hi, Josh!" and Joshua said "Hi, Grandpa Georgia!" to the voicemail...so funny!!!).
Since both boys were up early, we went for a walk around the neighborhood and played in the garage and also in the backyard. The weather had cleared up and it was a beautiful fall day. After we came inside, I laid Caleb down for another nap and asked Joshua if he would like to open his presents from Grandma & Grandpa Ginder and Aunt Erica. The boxes had arrived previously during the week, but we wanted to wait for his special day to tear into them. He was excited! Daddy told me to go ahead without him when Caleb was down so Joshua could look at everything himself first without a little helper.
First, we started with Aunt Erica's box. Joshua received an outfit (which was so cute - it looked like something Daddy would wear) and Elmo PJ's (which he was excited about). He also got a cute pumpkin t-bear "treat" and a cup with a straw that he LOVED. Look at his priceless face below when he opened it!
Next it was time to open the big box...only this thing was taped so thoroughly that it took Mommy a LONG time to finally get it open. The first thing Joshua dug out was a little adventure backpack with a sleeping bag, bottle and flash light.
He LOVED the flashlight and told me it had a bug on it (which I didn't get at first...here there's a bug on the light part itself). He has carried it everywhere!
Then he saw the counting books. When we were at his friend Isabella's house, he didn't want to put down the "Five Little Lady Bugs" and now he has his very own copy!
Next he got out his adventure pack with a little watch and utility knife and survival items. Looks like Daddy will have to go on an exploration with the Bean!
Joshua was also thankful for this sing-a-long CD and the clothes he got (with an adjustable waist- yeah!).
He was thrilled with his Elmo undies & Disney bigger undies.
Soon enough Caleb woke up & Daddy was coming home. For Joshua's birthday, I made Pesto Tortellini Alfredo. It's hit or miss with him what he'll eat, but this is something he's had before and liked. It has cheesy noodles & bacon...what more could you want (although he honestly didn't eat much all day long, and I didn't push it since he had been sick the night before and it was his special day). After we were finished, I dug out the cake from Oregon Dairy (why make one if one was given to you???) and I re-decorated it just a bit for his birthday...
Then I lit the candles and we sang to our big boy! He (like other kids) loves the happy birthday song. 
Daddy helped me blow out the candles since he didn't want to get too close...
And after a few bites, he didn't want any more so we fed some to Caleb and also hada few bites. Yumm!!! Next, we went back outside to play. The photo below is actually of Caleb on Joshua's birthday. He is wearing the Bean's helmet and pushing the shopping cart...so funny!
Soon it was dark and time to come inside. As a special treat, Daddy let Joshua bowl on the Wii by himself.
And he did a pretty impressive job...look at that score!
Then we changed the boys into their jammies and gave Joshua his birthday gifts from us, which included a baseball glove & ball and a 'real' golf club. We didn't go crazy this year with gifts since we also purchased a bigger party for him. He LOVED them (even more than we suspected) and he begged to go outside and play until Daddy showed him how dark it was.
Soon, we gave him more love and then took him up to his big boy bed after an eventful day. Originally we had been planning on taking him to Bounce-U again for his birthday, but when he wasn't feeling well the night before, we didn't want to push it. We wanted to make sure he had energy for his party the next day!
Happy birthday, my little love! May your third year be the best yet!