Birthday Adventure in Seattle

Yesterday was Ian's 3rd birthday! He and I celebrated the actual day by ourselves. Shawn was out of the house very early to enjoy his first major dive of the year and was staying the night at his parents house due to the distance to and from the dive site. Unfortunately, the weather made for poor visibility and he ended up cutting his dive short. I was so looking forward to pictures of the giant octopus he was planning to see.

As for our day yesterday, Ian and I left fairly early and headed into Seattle to the Children's Museum in Seattle Center. Something was going on and parking was impossible. We ended up waiting in the rain to pay at an automated lot far from the center, and then walked in the rain. Ian recited the whole way "This is ridiculous!". Gee, I wonder where he heard that... Me. Many times over.

Once we arrived at the museum, it was clear that this was going to be fun. That place is huge and very well laid out. He made a bee line for an off road vehicle (of course) and played in that area for the longest time before agreeing to move on to other things. There was a section called "cultural village" where homes and shops from different countries were replicated. Ian liked the Chinese shop and Japanese kitchen. He pretended to load up and serve me a dish of sushi. So cute. There was a replica of a Hutong home, but he was asking to go back to the "bus" by then, so I didn't get any pictures. I'd like to go back and check that section out a bit more. It was really well thought out.

Unfortunately, I failed to charge my camera before leaving, so the battery died about halfway through the day. You'd think I would have it figured out by now that you NEVER go out without a fully charged camera!

On our way out, Ian saw the Birthday rooms and thought he was going there for his birthday party. It wasn't pretty when I didn't let him go in. He was very disappointed that he couldn't go to the birthday party...on his birthday. I would have been confused, too!

He wanted to leave and go get soup (Panera), but he was fast asleep before we made it to the freeway. He took a long nap and we had soup and rice at home upon waking at 4:30. If Ian were to pick a last supper, I think it would be soup and rice. Boy that kid loves his soup.

He then talked to daddy on the phone, who told him he could have special birthday treats. We attempted to watch Mulan, but it got to a battle scene and he asked me to turn it to Ni Hao Kai Lan. He must be making a China connection on his birthday today... It got me thinking about the fact that 3 years ago a couple had their long awaited son only to find out he wasn't perfect. Although they kept him for 3 months, this was the day that actions were set in motion that eventually culminated in Ian becoming our son. One day we'll have to address what happened and why, but for now it's about presents, cake... and all the fun stuff the all kids get to enjoy about birthdays. I hope it can always be a good day for Ian, but also know it could be a day he resents when he's older. Time will tell. Right now, we're just going to have fun and deal with the tough stuff later!

Splashing in puddles. It wasn't until we got home that I realized his socks were soaked and his feet were FREEZING! Poor little guy!

Playing in the "bus". It was really a safari jeep, but Ian's favorite part of the entire museum. Go figure.

At the wheel

Inside the Chinese shop. Looked pretty darn authentic aside from the fact that it wasn't cluttered enough...and it needed a little old man watching TV.

Preparing me a bowl of sushi...good call, Ian!

This was in the storytime castle... Note to Grandpa: How hard would it be to build something like this (maybe with the top the size of a twin mattress so we could convert it to a bed when he's older? Hmmm?

In the Costruction Zone. They had pegboard sections and all the tools to put them together in different configurations. It was pretty cool, but very chaotic, so he moved on fairly quickly. It'll be neat when he's just a little older.

Preparing to go down a rocket slide in the Curious George area. It was a VERY fast slide, but he loved it and went back at least a dozen times.