His 3rd birthday and then on to Xmas.....

His birthday was great. Just family, at Papa's Pizza again, and he got spoiled rotten. Again. But the best part is, Mommy and Daddy got to do some of the spoiling this year! The theme was Spider-Man and Mommy helped Nana put up a bunch of Spider-Man decorations and Nana made awesome little cupcakes with web designs in the frosting and all his presents from Nana and Papa and Mommy and Daddy were exquisitely wrapped in Spidey paper. Auntie Angel chased him through the giant hamster tube play equipment in Papa's play room. Better her than me! (I was impressed!) I'm not even going to try to list his shwag but it was a good haul. I was really pleased by the things that the wife and I were able to get for him. Awesome birthday for an awesome little Monster.

And then, after his birthday party we went downtown to Pioneer Courthouse Square and saw the big tree and then we went up to the Zoo to see the Zoo Lights and ride the train! That was a crazy experience but ultimately worth it. Zoo Lights, on a Saturday night two weeks before Christmas is a very, very busy place. The type of crowd that I avoid like the plague. But I stayed optimistic because it was something that I wanted Baron to see and despite the just-one-degree-above-freezing temperature (and the fact that I was wearing shorts, like I always do.) and the long wait in a couple of different lines it was a lot of fun. For this stodgy ol' codger it's alotta fluff and brou-ha-ha but with Baron with us we look at the whole spectacle from a different perspective and it's suddenly new and amazing and fun again. It's a novelty but it's also a local holiday tradition and that is part of what the spirit of the season is all about; celebrating the novelty of old traditions. I'll have to put up some pictures.