Emmy turns three!

Saturday was Emmy's third birthday. Bill and I took her up to Seattle to visit the Woodland Park Zoo for the day. This zoo has different animals than the Oregon Zoo so she had an opportunity to see jaguars, snow leopards, kangaroos and more. The highlight of her visit was a children's activity center where she went down a slide, played with Tree Blocks, sat on an elephant statue and pretended that she was a baby bird in an egg.

After the zoo we met my Aunt Trish at Rainforest Cafe for dinner. Emmy loved it! When we walked in her eyes were huge with wonder. She looked the whole restaurant over, taking it all in. Bill requested a table near the elephants (Emmy's favorite animal) and we were able to close enough to them to mesmerize Emmy but far enough away that she wasn't afraid of them (any closer and she would have been). Emmy really enjoyed the time with Auntie Trish. They played together the entire meal. After dinner they brought Emmy an ice cream sundae with a candle in it. She did a fantastic job blowing out her candle. Before her sundae arrived, Emmy was busy opening presents from Nana and Papa. They kept her so occupied that she really didn't even eat her sundae (which is highly unusual for this kid... she LOVES ice cream). After dinner Emmy and Auntie Trish had fun playing hide and seek in the mall outside the Rainforest Cafe.

This is the first year that Emmy is old enough to understand the concept of birthdays. As we were getting ready to leave Saturday morning the first thing she said was "My birthday party, Auntie Trish." She is so excited about the whole concept. Throughout the day she kept saying, "It IS my birthday!". It is so much fun to watch her excitement.