A non-Christmas Birthday!

We decided that since Brady's birthday is 2 days before Christmas, that we would have a party early with friends and family and on his actual birthday the three of us would do something special together to celebrate. We decided it should be a non-christmas event because are celebrating his birthday, not Christmas. I don't want his birthday to get lost in the holidays, although I know it probably will at some point. But we are trying our best here!

This year we decided to take Brady to the Aquarium. It is about 1 1/2 hours away and oh so much fun! I remember going as a child, but it has gotten so much better since then. Brady LOVED it!

Checking out the sting rays.

Brady is the same height as the Gentoo penguin. He wouldn't stand with his back to it for long. He was ready to see the penquins. I can't say I blame him. They are awesome!

Caleb and Brady in front of the penguin exhibit. It looks fake, but those are real penguins. The exhibit stretches around the wall and most of the penguins had just swam to the other side. (There was a little t.v. screen in the wall explaining things about penguins, that is what Brady is watching.)

Brady and I watching the fish.

We got to see a feeding. The picture is terrible. It was really neat in real life. Ha!

Brady would point and babble to the fish. It was so cute!

We had a long, but Wonderful day. We were all exhausted by the time we made it back home. Brady and I camped out on the recliner and watched yo gabba gabba until time for him to go to bed.

It was such a great day. I am so happy we did this! It is a tradition I hope to continue every year. We purchased a book on penguins and an otter Christmas ornament to remember the trip. (We try to get a book for Brady at each place we visit. I stole the Christmas ornament idea from my sister. These are souvenirs that you can keep and are pretty inexpensive. They don't leave you with buyers remorse once you get home.) We have already started talking about what to do next year. We may have to do this with all of our children, even if there Birthday doesn't fall on Christmas. It is a day we will always cherish!