Evan's Third Birthday

The weekend of Evan's third birthday was truly an extravaganza made up of 3 parts. Read on to join in on the fun...

The Water Park

We decided to take what will likely be our last family vacation ever as a family of three in honor of Evan's 3rd birthday. We headed out to Grey Wolf Lodge, a hotel about 1 1/2 hours south of Seattle that has a huge indoor water park. When we got there Evan spent a good half hour checking out the water park through a large window and watching the big bucket of water dump over and over again. That evening we went to story time. They had a lady reading books, a large anamatronic musical (with talking trees that Evan loved) and a large fuzzy wolf.

Evan has a thing for huge stuffed creatures so he took to the wolf fast. There was a lot of hugging and high fives. The next morning we had a birthday brunch where the staff of the restaurant sang to him and (without consulting us) gave him a double chocolate cupcake for breakfast. Next it was off to the 50,000 square foot water park filled with wave pools, water slides and play areas. Evan's favorite thing to do was sit on the jet skis and shoot water at Jill and me.

We left the water park early in the afternoon and headed home for dinner and a good night sleep before part two of the birthday extravaganza.

The Fair

On Sunday morning we woke up and went to the Puyallup Fair. Evan enjoyed the roller coasters at the shore so much this summer we figured he'd have a blast at the fair -- and we were right. Evan went on almost all the kids rides including 3 roller coasters. Here he is in the first car having a blast.

There's a musical contraption at the fair that Evan played on when we went there for his first birthday. It's great to see the then-and-now comparison.

He also took a ride on a horse - pretty much unassisted.

It was then time to head home and take a little nap before part 3.

The Pizza Party

We had a little pizza party for Evan and a few friends. This was the source of much contention. Throughout the months leading up to his birthday Evan had been demanding that the only people at his party be Peep, Shamu, Sea Creature Blanket and his ladybugs. Here he is with his party crew.

His animals each got him a present and he got a huge kick out of that.

Just a few days before the big day though, he changed his mind and we were able to invite a few other folks over for pizza and cake. Evan was truly obsessed with his cake. It was a chocolate Diego cake and he spent a lot of time just staring at it.

The pizza, singing, cake, and presents all went off without a hitch and Evan wound up the day so happy to be three - and so tired from his birthday extravaganza weekend.