Ryan and Connor's 3rd Birthday Party at the Moody Gardens Aquarium

We were so excited when the day of their party actually rolled around. We left hours before their party was scheduled to start and expected to have quite a long wait when we arrived, but better safe than sorry we reasoned.

And it was a good thing we left when we did. Between Spring Break and rodeo traffic there were multiple slow downs. We arrived with about 20 minutes to spare, and by the time we had located the room and had a potty break it was party time.

The party room had an aquarium view.

The boys immediately camped out in front of it.

They alternated between watching the various fish including a barracuda, and various sharks and playing with blocks and letters in the floor. Soon their friends began to trickle in and a chorus of "oohs" and "awws" repeated themselves over and over again with each new wave.

After about 40 minutes of playing our host lined the kids up and led us upstairs for the behind the scenes penguin encounter.

Amazingly enough we didn't lose anyone on the trek down the long hallway, up the stairs, and through the aquarium where we re-assembled outside the penguin habitat.

After a short wait - just long enough for a group photo opp we were led back into the penguin's kitchen.

Once we were all settled and reminded again to use our quietest voices a penguin waddled into the room with one of the staff.

The trainer gave us a 10-15 minute speel all about the penguins from how long they live, to hall tall they get to be, to what they eat, and how fast they can swim. A few minutes in our penguin stood completely upright and let out a loud call, for lack of a better word, surprising us all. Apparently it was a fairly rare treat which it would go on to repeat again before our visit was up.

Our penguin was quite an active fellow. He kept the trainer busy as he wandered first one way then another exploring the room.

The trainer had her work cut out for her trying to corral him.

At the very end the birthday boys got to see the penguin up close and personal and got to have their picture taken with him.

Afterwards it was time to feed the penguins. We grabbed spots at the glass and watched the penguins waddle around on the ice.

And swim underwater as we waited for the food to be brought out.

As we watched the penguins gathered round and enjoyed the buckets of small fish.

We returned to the room to find a few friends who had gotten tied up in traffic. They were just in time to meet the penguin mascot.

Though several of the other kids stopped to visit and had pictures taken with them him the boys kept a skeptical eye on him and refused to budge anywhere near him.

The boys instead amused themselves with the blocks, colors, and other activity items laid out on the tables as the hostess brought out the cake.

The boys once again heard a round of Happy Birthday, and like the seasoned pros they had become blew out their candles and dug into the cookie cake.

And a nice red punch. :)

Afterwards we took a 10 minute break to allow folks to take a potty break and/or drop of their goodie bags in their cars before we headed into the Aquarium.

The aquarium was a go at your own pace and our group soon split up with a dozen kids running in different directions. Our smaller group including Leila H, Dean, and Rohan headed towards the sea lions. They particularly enjoyed watching the biggest sea lion as he repeatedly made a path doing a backflip right in front of the under sea window.

The boys wandered from tank to tank delighting in all the fish.

Though there were few that they enjoyed more than the big tank with the sharks. The tunnels where the schools of fish and sharks swam over head was a particular favorite.

There was such a variety of fish everywhere we looked. We could have easily spent an hour watching in that one spot alone.

As the end our tour drew near we rested for a while in the auditorium like room just before the exit. A giant yellow eel sat near the glass probably as intrigued by as we were by him. After playing and watching for a while we finally said our goodbyes and headed out.

It was certainly an adventure we won't soon forget.

Penguin Goodie Bags

It was almost time for the big day - the big party. So of course there were more goodie bags to be made. :)

As soon as I read the part about the Aquarium party at Moody Gardens including a behind the scenes penguin encounter I knew these penguins would be perfect.

I also stumbled across these great Nemo nightlights that I thought would be a wonderful addition as well.

And of course there must be sweets and treats. Though the packaging of all of it turned out to be a bit challenging.

I went through several iterations of the before I settled on just the right one.

Yeah... I want one of these, too! :)

Go Texan Day

Notice that I didn't say brightest... And maybe I should have said outlaws instead of cowboys... :)

Go Texan

In honor of Go Texan day we tried on some cowboy duds for the boys to wear to school. Tell me those aren't some of the cutest cowboys that you ever did see??

Burning Daylight

After the party we made our way across the Seawall and down onto the beach where we played in the sand.

It was a little chilly, but that didn't deter the boys one bit.

They raced their cars down the beach.

And we built castles and they plowed them down. :)

Party at the Rainforest

While we waited for our tables to be made ready the boys explored the store, and basically drove us crazy. They particularly liked this bin of bugs. Thankfully we didn't have to wait too terribly long before they seated us. And even better yet since it was mid afternoon they had the kids food out with all possible speed. Once they were done we broke up the cupcakes, set the candles and one pick on fire and had the waiters help us sing Happy Birthday. And the boys blew out their candles before we set the whole restaurant on fire.

Afterwards we let the boys open presents. While they had fun opening all their presents they particularly liked Miss Lisa's beach gear which couldn't have been better timed given that we were on the seawall and had hours of daylight left to burn!

Though before we hit the beach we took a raft trip through the jungle on the Jungle Cruise! Similar to the restaurant it was a long windy path filled with various animals that all the kids had fun pointing out as we made our way through.

Lost my Marbles

I totally lost my marbles. There is simply no other explanation. It all started in band camp... Wait. I wasn't in the band. And I can't save a musical instrument to save my life.

It actually all started with procrastination. You see it's rough to have a February birthday. In most parts of the country it would simply be too cold to even contemplate doing something outside. But here? Where we live? The end of February can range anywhere from fozen popsicle all the way up to the mid 70s. With one one day, and the other the next. And sometimes even on the same day. You know the saying - if you don't like the weather in Texas hang around a few minutes and it will change. Or something like that? I am sure someone said it. They might even have been famous.

So while I was trying to decide if I should be insane enough to risk an outdoor birthday party like the Old McDonalds farm fiasco of '10... What you don't remember that one? We had decided to go to Old McDonalds farm for their birthday, invitations had been sent, RSVPs received, and I watched the weather - 10 day forecast, 7 day forecast, 5 day forecast... it became apparent that the weather was going to be on the hairy edge. Starting off in the upper 50's to low 60's, and warming up to a respectable high in the 70's later in the afternoon. But weather.com was showing a chilly 58 when our party was scheduled to start at 11am. So at the last minute I called frantically to every indoor venue I could think of and booked a bounce house instead 3 days before the party.

We later went to the farm just for the day and had an absolute blast. So as I was once again trying to decide whether we should risk it or not and if we did what our back-up plan would be I had an epiphany. Nemo. Fish. The Aquarium? Moody Gardens? A few hours later I had my heart set on the aquarium at Moody Gardens. Only when I emailed them they didn't have availability on the date I wanted. But they did in early March. So we decided to have the boys' party there this year.

Only there was this one little disturbing line - 32 people. MAX. Including adults. No matter how I sliced it we wouldn't be able to invite everyone we wanted to in the event that even half of them accepted. So I hatched a hair brained idea. We would do a toddler party at Moody Gardens, and then have everyone else join us at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner afterwards. It sounded like a swell plan so I booked Moody Gardens. And then I called the Rainforest. And you know where this is going right... No where good...

It turns out the weekend we picked was a double whammy. Not only was it the end of Mardi Gras in Galveston it was also the start of spring break, and wait for it... the start of a huge cheerleading competition, too. Because that's just my luck, right?

So I called everywhere. There wasn't a single place that would take reservations, or wasn't already booked. So we moved on to plan B, C, D, E, and then I think to F.

And that's where this story picks up... Getting ready to celebrate the boys' birthday with Kevin's family at the Rainforest Cafe. Which meant rainforest themed cake and goodie bags.

And I had way too much fun with these.

Seriously? Adorable.

I want one!

And I don't even like Tootsie rolls. But I totally planned to use them to make a road on the Lightening McQueen cake I was going to make for the boys' birthday. Which thankfully I will now be spared from making. Plan F remember?

So then there were the cupcakes. Which Sams doesn't make anymore by the way. No cupcakes? You have to be kidding me. Thankfully Costco still does. Though the bakery lady thought I was far too high maintenance. I wanted a Cars theme (rings), on the side, hold the mess. But in more than 2 colors, okay? No. Why not??? After 10 minutes we finally agreed on something I could live with.

Don't ask... really you don't want to know. So when I came to pick them up the rings were no where to be seen. So I asked for them? And well... umm... we don't have any. That's why they aren't in the bag. Thank goodness I hadn't be planning to actually use the cars rings on these particular cup cakes. Because I had other plans for them. Rainforest theme, remember?

Sooo cute! I love these picks, too.

Seussical - Cat in the Hat

School has been celebrating the anniversary of Dr. Seuss with a variety of activities all week. Today was crazy hat day in honor of Cat in the Hat. I talked the boys into wearing some silly hats I picked up at the dollar store. Connor loved his hat. He wore it all day long and refused to so much as consider taking it off. Ryan showed his off for photo ops and a school crazy hat parade.