Birthday date with mommy!

Mommy likes to take A, B and C on a "birthday date" each year as their gift (she got a chance to play laser tag for the first time ever with B and got to teach C how to roller skate one year...and she and A love to paint pottery each year!) and she's decided to take me on birthday dates, too!  She even took off work for the day so we could go hang out.  The idea was to go on a weekday so it wouldn't be too crowded...but it was still pretty crowded (maybe it was Spring Break for a lot of schools?) - we still had a great time, though!

Here we are when we first got there - in the parking garage.  Mommy was pumped to learn that there is no charge for parking from 11am until 1pm on weekdays at the Levee!

We went straight to the Newport Aquarium...even though I am a big girl now, I am only 1 and got in for freeeeee!

We had to wait in a line to see the gator, Big Mike, and I snacked on Cheerios...I was going to offer him one but I finished eating them by the time we got near his head...

Hey, look at me!  I am bigger than an alligator hatchling!  I'm probably faster, too...I loved it when mommy let me out of the stroller!

It was pretty crowded, though, so I couldn't get out too much, which is why I stayed put in my stroller for the shark size comparison.

I liked looking at the fish but really loved watching the penguins!  They kept jumping into the water and swimming around and jumping back out...fun stuff!  Mommy even bought me a souvenir - a cup from the gift shop that says "Newport Aquarium" with penguins all over it!

Even though I enjoyed exploring the aquarium and watching the fishies (and the people!), my favorite part was probably walking around the plaza!  It was a bit cold when we left home but after the aquarium, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.  We even got to eat lunch outside!  Mommy tried a restaurant called Tom & Chee and I had bread and applesauce.

I kept telling mommy I could stay and walk around all day but she thought I was getting sleepy...I kept telling her she was wrong...but not long after we got in the car, I guess I proved she was right...

(That's me snoozing in my big girl car seat!  I've been switched over in mommy's car so far...soon I will be switched in daddy's car and the babysitters' cars!  I enjoy the extra space to spread my legs!)

Mommy mistakenly thought she could get me out of my seat and keep me asleep and get me to take a lengthy afternoon nap but I was all done!  We played at home for a bit but then went shopping - I needed new cups!

I love hanging out with mom...she needs to quit her job and hang out with me every day!