Week 9- Aquarium and Happy 2nd Birthday Charlie

 Happy 2nd Birthday, Charlie Claude Miller!

How in the world is my little boy two years old already?
Kirby and I were sad that we couldn't celebrate Charlie's 2nd Birthday with family and friends.  But we decided we would do our best to make it as special as possible.

Charlie has an obsession with Mickey Mouse right now and being determined to make this a special day I decided I would make a Mickey cake.   It took a few days but it was quite a success in my eyes!

I used my own recipe for the cake (a mixture of several recipes I read online).   It was a dense peanut butter, butter cake.

http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Chocolate-Buttercream-Icing
This is the recipe I used for the icing- delicious!

http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm
This is the recipe I used to for the fondant.  It was a sticky mess to make but easy  enough to do.

The finished product!  What do you think?

Place: Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

Cost: $18 for adults  $12 for children ages 5-12 $0 for children 4 and under
I think there may be a discount for Nevada residents as well as an option for an annual pass
However, Kirby's co-worker's wife is a marine biologist at the Shark Reef Aquarium and she got us free tickets.  YEAH!!!
Hours:  10am-8pm Sunday through Thursday and 10am-10pm Friday and Saturday
Best for kids age: all ages!  Even Jocelyn (6 months) enjoyed watching the fish for a while

On the plus side:  The aquarium was easy to navigate.  Essentially everyone was moving in one direction through the aquarium (the former teacher in me who annually took her 2nd graders to the aquarium and now the mom of two little loves) truly appreciated this.   There were some great exhibits including a touch pool and a tunnel through the aquarium.  Many exhibits had glass to the floor or close to it, which meant we didn't have to pick up the kids to see every exhibit.

On the down side:  The downside to the aquarium is simply that we have had the pleasure of visiting some fierce competition.  We took Charlie to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ shortly after he turned one.  It is significantly larger than this aquarium.  And although we have yet to take the kids there, Kirby and I have been to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.   One can easily spend several hours at either aquarium and the Shark Reef Aquarium took us about an hour and a half to explore.
Suggestions: none
Rating (on a scale of 1-5 stars) 4
Go again? I'm sure we will

After our visit to the Shark Reef Aquarium we headed home so the kids could take a nap.  When Charlie woke, he was greeted to his birthday presents.  And the big one....

 HIS FIRST BIKE!!

It is hard to see but we got him a Mickey helmet to boot!  Love that he was loving his day!

We are just beginning to get settled here in Las Vegas so I knew we weren't going to have a chance to get professional photos.  I went to the local craft store to get this number two and paint it, in hopes it would make a good prop for some pictures.

They aren't perfect but I am happy with how they turned out : )

Finally to cap the night off, it was time to dive into the Mickey cake.  Although our families couldn't physically be with us to celebrate Charlie's birthday,  we figured out a way to all sing Happy Birthday together.

Jill and Mike were on the phone.  We did a four way video chat to include everyone else.    My parents were in one box.   Becky, Kendra, John, and Butch in another.  And Matt and Boom Boom in the last.  So thankful they made themselves available for our little boy!

Time to DIG IN!!!