A WILD Third Birthday

We celebrated Helen Grace’s third birthday with friends and family at the zoo on Saturday morning. What an obvious choice of location, right? Our girl loves the zoo! The temps spiked into the mid-90s this weekend, so we were glad to have chosen the early party slot at 9 a.m., although that was EARLY to get to the zoo and ready to entertain. We loved the air conditioned Jungle Room though, and our party hostess made the load-in so easy. We colored, ate Chick-n-Minis and fruit, and cut the cake- without blowing out candles or singing Happy Birthday, per the birthday girl’s request. Around 10:15, we headed over to the Once Upon a Farm exhibit and had a blast petting and feeding the goats, pigs, donkeys, and sheep. I think the kids and grown ups alike enjoyed the farm experience. There were lots of squeals and laughter and running, although we doled out a ton of hand sanitizer afterward.

Everyone went their separate ways after the farm, but our cousins stayed to explore the zoo. Helen Grace specifically requested- in this order- a rainbow sucker (which she licked about five times and then handed to me), a visit to see the dinosaurs, ‘nilla Dippin’ Dots, a romp on the playground (of course), and trip to see the birds and the giraffes. We let her plan her day, and although the temps continued to rise, we had a lot of fun. She could have stayed for hours more, but we finally got her to the car around 1:30. She obviously conked out on the car ride home after such a WILD, friend- and fun-filled day!

Happy birthday to our precious little miracle, Helen Grace, and thanks to our family and friends for celebrating with us!

Ready to party! Helen Grace was basically attached to Grace Ann. Spiffer getting in a squeeze Hayes, Hanley, Cam, Hastings, Aunt GloriaGranddaddy caught her fixing herself a plate of Goldfish and sitting down at a table, so he swooped in with a plate of fruit and chicken and helped her get some breakfast in her tummy. The Mattice girls:  Daily, Frankie, Remle John, Hayley, Will, and Davis Hudson Gabriella Mullins, Lawson and Melissa Eldred, Haney Harris, and Sarah and Isaiah Egner The Englands:  Taylor, Griffin, and Robbye Courtlyn and Rachel Anglin, Mariella Shumaker and HG She wanted to cut the cake all by herself. This knife was given to HG by Rebecca on her first birthday, and we’ll use it for every birthday and then on her wedding day. Sniff, sniff. She LOVED this piece with her name on it and pretty much ate it clean! John caught a sweet moment. She just stopped me for a hug.ANIMALS!  All the grown ups in the shade- the heat was getting tough! Peggy, Spiffer, Mama, HG, GrandmaThe worn out birthday girl needed a piggy back ride. A little juice break after the Farm. No smiles allowed. And she had to have one last piece of cake before we left the Jungle Room. Courtlyn talked her into riding the boat ride in a nanosecond flat. Wish we had had her with us on Halloween!Sleeping Beauty wanted to hold hands too. We had to take our stuff out to the car after the party but were planning on going right back into the zoo. Helen Grace didn’t get the memo though and thought we were leaving. She was NOT happy and wanted to go back in ASAP.     After her party, her first request was to get a rainbow sucker and to see the dinosaurs, so off we went! I made the comment that it was so hot that I might let the dinosaur spit water at me this time, so in the bottom right pic, she’s pushing me into the wet zone and cackling! {For comparison sake, here’s one in the same place on her second birthday.}Pretending to be a monster Two of the Graces…GG was there with us in spirit. Little girl cousins:  Hastings, Hayes, HG, Grace Ann Big girl cousins with the little girls

Thank goodness for Granddaddy. He captured video of everyone during the party and even HG standing in the corner afterward shoving cake in her face. Too funny!