HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY ETHAN

Liz called us this morning to invite us to join her and her kids (Lauren & Ben, and a couple of their friends) at the aquarium downtown. (photo LtoR: Brittney Hanchett, pink shirt on top is Lauren Tannyhill, her friend Madeline, Ethan, me, Brynn, Jake in the red & Ben Tannyhill in green). What a fabulous way to kick off Ethan's 3rd birthday! Ethan loved checking out all the under water creatures, fish, sharks and even some other critters like snakes, spiders (that clearly did NOT live underwater) etc. that they had on display. Ethan went under one of the tanks with Liz to check out more exotic fish & smaller sharks upclose...and I think the only exciting thing we didn't get to see were the tigers that swim with the fish. Better luck next time. Liz's son, Ben was adorable with Ethan (as always). Ethan kept calling out for Ben to come hold his hand, and he did through much of the aquarium. *I'm pretty sure that Ethan was watching some of the other sharks and didn't even see this one coming.

After we had explored every inch of the aquarium, we went to lunch at Panera, and then off to run a bunch of errands (which turned into a little more than I bargained for).

I'm just glad I didn't have to make Ethan's big cake tonight - thankfully he agreed to have cupcakes and save the big cake for the extended family party on Saturday. The only kicker is that a few days ago, Ethan told me that he needed a firetruck cake for his big party, and a Spiderman cake for his actual birthday - so Spiderman cupcakes he shall have.

Highlights for Ethan? Gifts. He got lots of learning things, books, games etc. but his favorites of the day were Batman with a rocket pack booster thing from Brynn & a Batman and Robin jeep thing from Grandpa Steve and Grandma Judie. They always love the toys now, but he'll thank us for all the learning toys and books later. ( : By the way Gramma Lydia & Grampa Warren, he LOVED Crickwing...by his choosing, I read it to him 3 times in a row before he went to sleep tonight.

Ethanisms of the day:

- Singing parts of Beyonce's song "All the single ladies" after hearing Liz's daughter Lauren and her friend Madeline singing it at lunch.

- While rushing through the aisle's at Hobby Lobby, Ethan found a birthday cone hat with tinsel trimming that he told me he had to have for his birthday party. He immediately put it on his head and sang Happy Birthday to himself as we walked to the registers (he even added "and many more" on the end of the song). The checker & other shoppers were very amused.

- tonight while playing with his Batman jeep, he was singing Happy Birthday to himself (using his full name, Ethan Scot Woolley), and then after singing "and many more" he added "on channel 9". I guess he likes to make things fresh.

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY ETHAN! We love you!