{"id":2070,"date":"2016-04-26T20:02:18","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T20:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/family.manandyak.com\/?p=2070"},"modified":"2016-04-26T20:42:36","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T20:42:36","slug":"josef-turns-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/family.manandyak.com\/?p=2070","title":{"rendered":"Josef Turns Three!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are some media from Josef’s 3rd birthday. \u00a0It couldn’t have been any nicer! \u00a0I made him some blueberry pancakes (one of his favorite treats) for breakfast, before we rode off to school. \u00a0Later, Rachael got to attend their midday snack and tell the other children stories about Josef, which is the custom for the birthday honoree. \u00a0That night some family came over and Josef got to open his presents, which included a monster costume from Mama and Papa, and a little guitar and washboard instrument from Gramheart.<\/p>\n

Now that he is a proper little man we figured it would be fun to throw a real big party and invite all of his new classmates. \u00a0Since school just started it would be a great way to get to know the new friends. \u00a0Rachael wisely suggested we rent a little bouncy house, and that provided hours of exuberant fun for the youngsters. \u00a0The weather was absolutely perfect. \u00a0We had about 25 children running amok in the backyard and it was a beautiful sight.<\/p>\n

There was a brand new fort debuted in the backyard, courtesy of Oma und Opa, and the bigger boys had a blast going down the super-steep slide. \u00a0I got out some of \u00a0my old 19th Century camping gear to make it extra cool to play in. \u00a0He also got a deluxe tractor\/backhoe machine from Grandpa and Nana which was the object of much attention, but fortunately the neighbor’s boy brought over a similar device and it eased some of the mounting tension over who would get to operate the coveted equipment.<\/p>\n

Josef requested chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles, so Rachael made him a big batch. \u00a0I felt a lot of warm pride and love watching him standing over his treats while all his friends sang him Happy Birthday. \u00a0It was marvelous day.