Open wide like...a hippo!

Turning 3 years old also marked the time for Austin to take his first trip to the dentist! He was so excited! We had talked about it for a few months ahead of time and every time either Daddy or I had a dentist appointment in the meantime, he wanted very much to go with us!

He did so very good! I think he didn't know that he was supposed to be nervous.





The dentist was great. He showed Austin all the tools he was going to use and of course, Austin was totally intrigued with them.





And he did great holding his mouth open every time he was supposed to. The only problem was the dentist kept telling him to open wide like a crocodile. Except that Austin doesn't really know that crocodiles open big, but he does know that hippos do. So each time I'd whisper, "Open like a hippo," and then he'd get it. The dentist seemed to think that was a little weird!



And afterwards he got to pick a toy. He wanted one of everything! After trying to decide for more than 10 minutes, I finally picked for him! Otherwise, we might have been there all day!

Pumpkin Picking

Last year we all got too sick to go to a real pumpkin patch so we just did a small one near us. So this year I was excited that we were all healthy enough to take a trip to Tanaka Farms like we had 2 years before. It's a U-pick pumpkin patch and they also have U-pick veggies, a tractor ride, a petting zoo and a corn maze. It's a great place to go!

And this year we got to go with Katelyn, Auntie Suz & Nani. Even better!

More Birthday Fun

Austin's birthday weekend couldn't have been complete without doing something on his actual birthday. His birthday was on a Monday and Daddy had to work, so we decided to go to Disneyland with some good buddies! It was so much fun!







I love this picture! Obviously the birthday boy enjoyed his little 3 year old self!

Big Boy Horses (Kinda)

A few months beforehand, I asked Austin what he wanted to do for his birthday and he was adamant that he wanted to ride horses for his birthday. He'd say "I'm three! I'm big! I ride horses!" I'm not sure if he was remembering riding them for his 2nd birthday or if he was remembering riding about 6 months earlier for Easter. Either way, what the birthday boy wants, the birthday boy gets!

His actual birthday was on a Monday, so we scheduled Sunday as a family celebration day with a trip out to Irvine Park and lunch out.

Irvine Park has two kinds of horses - walking ponies and trotting horses. You have to be 3 to ride the trotting horses. So when the lady asked us if he was 3, I proudly answered "Yep! Tomorrow!" Apparently, 1 day makes a difference. Since he wasn't actually 3 yet, they wouldn't let him ride. Me and my big mouth! I really didn't think a day would matter. (Back at Easter, I knew 6 months would and fibbed (okay, lied!) then) So my poor birthday boy was relegated to the walking ponies. Fortunately he was (nearly) 3 and oblivious and really didn't care about what horses he rode, as long as he got to ride something! He thoroughly enjoyed his pony rides and McKenna did too! It turned out to be a great day, despite the momma guilt that I ruined his bday!

Hello Horsey!






McKenna was so cute. She just kept petting the horse the whole ride, saying "Hi Nay!!"


Afterwards, we went to BJs for lunch. Austin was so excited about his very own pazookie. Heck, who can blame him? They're yummy!