Grace is 4!

I can hardly believe that Grace has turned 4, where did the time go? We had a lot of fun on her birthday starting with a visit to the Living Planet Aquarium. We saw lots of interesting things like a giant squid, sea horses, sharks, and fishes of all kinds.

We really liked the "touch tank" where fish and sting rays swam swiftly by and we were encouraged to reach in and touch the rays. They felt smooth and silky, and despite the fact that they killed Steve Erwin, they are not dangerous. For the touch tank, the sting rays barbs were clipped - apparently they are like finger nails and grow back so they have to be clipped periodically. Grant could have watched the sting rays swim for hours, he was mesmerized by them, and Merritt got brave and touched one. They were actually really cute, one was very playful and would pop her head up to say "hi" and then splash us as she went back into the water.

In the South American wing of the aquarium, there was a huge tank with a Mata-mata turtle, a Side necked turtle, and three Caimans. Caimans are dwarf alligators and Merritt LOVED them. They could sit so still in the water, but we actually got to see one shimmy down a log and swim. The aquarium also boasts a selection of frogs and a green anaconda. The aquarium is a work in progress, so while it isn't very extensive yet, it is interesting and we'll have to go again after they get the penguins in.


We tried to have lunch at a park, but big surprise...it started to rain, so we ate in the car. We needed to make a quick stop at Costco, so I kept the kids occupied with little powdered donuts...


We had Grace's birthday party in the evening. Heather made a super cute pink castle cake (but our camera's digital card was full before we got to the cake part of the evening, so as soon as Heather gives me some pictures, I'll make a whole post dedicated to her fabulous creation) and there were lots of presents.




What little girl doesn't want a darling pink shirt from France?








She likes!






Chad and I saved what we thought would be the pièce de résistance of the whole evening for last...a frothy pink princess dress. She hated it. It was like she was afraid of the darn dress! I figured she only had to try it on to like it, but as soon as it was on she burst into tears. It's a good thing I kept the tags on cuz I think it's going back to Target.