May 29, 2011...

For ET's birthday this year we had a lot of things that were going to keep us busy. First we were supposed to go to church, come home and eat lunch, lay Nate down for a nap, prepare food for a BBQ, and then attend a BBQ with friends from the church. Looking at our schedule for the day, I realized that with all these things planned it really wouldn't have been much of a b-day for ET. So instead we decided to just cancel everything and give the day entirely to ET and whatever he wanted to do. He chose to go the MOA. He was so excited to go see the alligator at the Rainforest Cafe and so we stayed a while and ate lunch there too. I realized when we got to the mall that I had forgot my camera, so we paid the $7.00 (crazy!) for the picture they take of you before being seated at the table.



After seeing the "VOLCANO" cake with the sparkler candle delivered to so many other tables, ET insisted on ordering one for himself. The waiters and waitresses all sang "Happy Birthday" to him. I wished I could take a picture of him...he was so happy. :)

After lunch we headed over to Nickelodeon Universe for some rides. I laid Nate in his stroller and told him to go to sleep. He actually listened! Within two minutes he was out like a light. :) ET wanted to go on all the rides with Jay, so after watching a few I went shopping for just a bit to pick up some things I needed.

Again I forgot my camera so we paid for the $6.00 picture that they emailed us of the two of them on the Log Chute (it would have been $12.00 if I wanted a hard copy of the photo - WOW!).



After the mall, we headed home so ET could open his gifts.

Here is ET with his new tiger he got at the Rainforest Cafe. He picked it out and just fell in love with it right away. We told him he could have it, but that he should put it back and we could pick it up before we left. I wanted to make sure it wasn't just an impulse buy for him. As we walked around the mall and through Nickelodeon Universe, he found other things he wanted as well, but when compared to the tiger he still said he would want the tiger the most. So just before leaving we went and bought the tiger. He named it "Emmett." It sits in his bed with all his other animals and he has taken such good care of it. I think it is so sweet how much he loves his animals.



One thing ET has been asking for is a radio and a CD of all his favorite songs. I cannot tell you how happy he was when he opened this! Since then, he has listened to his music everyday and brags about it to anyone who will listen. He feels like such a big kid to have a radio in his bedroom.





Lastly, we purchased ET his first new bike! He was with us about two weeks ago when we bought it, because we wanted to size him next to one. It was so fun for him to ride it around while in the store and then ride it right out of the store after buying it. It has been sitting in our garage for two weeks now. Jay and I told him he could not ride it until his birthday, so he was pretty happy when we told him he could go out and ride it for the first time. :)




After opening gifts we headed to the backyard for our first campfire of the year. We cooked hot dogs over the fire and roasted marshmallows for dessert. It was the perfect ending to a great birthday for ET!