It’s amazing how fast time flies. It doesn’t seem like that long ago that we brought our little miracle baby home from the hospital. Of course it also seems like we just barely had Tyler’s 1st birthday party at the park behind our Roy house. Yet somehow time has flown by and here I am blogging about Tyler’s 3rd birthday.
Tyler’s birthday actually got a bit of an early start when Thesha’s folks came out to visit over the summer while I was at scout camp. Rather than ship a present out, they decided to bring their gift with them so they could see his reaction first hand. I don’t think they were disappointed as he gazed intently as the little motorized car zipped around the racetrack. This actually set the theme for most of Tyler’s birthday celebration – transportation in all it’s various forms. As much as Tyler loves cars, he loves trains, airplanes, horses, and apparently frogs as well. Frogs, you ask? You’ll see what I mean.
So to start things off, Thesha made Tyler this really cool train birthday cake. It was made of cookies, cakes, ding dongs, frosting, and a bunch of other candy. It was so cool and pretty freakin’ good, if I do say so myself. Then after gorging on a big red caboose, we started opening presents. Grandpa Choate sent a bunch of Cars items like a sticker book, Lightning McQueen, and a Mack Truck. Of course, it just wouldn’t be a car-themed gift from Grandpa Choate without a corvette with a flag decal running the length of the car. Tyler loved it all. We got Tyler a train table that had a bunch of tracks, buildings, and toy trains. It was a little anti-climatic because all he could see was the box the first night, but when he came out the next day and saw it all put together he was so excited.
All of the trains and cars got Tyler prepped and ready for his big day out. We loaded up the car and even though our destination was just over an hour away, we decided to stay in a hotel overnight to make it seem like we had gone on a long trip. It worked on me when I was a kid, so hopefully it seemed that way to Tyler as well. After spending the night in the hotel, we went to a really cool amusement park called Dutch Wonderland. It’s not the biggest amusement park, but it’s full of rides and activities that are perfect for younger kids. A lot of the other amusement parks are full of big roller coasters and rides that are too scary for little ones, but this one was perfect. We started out on the little train that takes you on a ride around the park. After just shelling out a lot more money than you’d want to for a bunch of kiddie rides, it all seemed worth it to hear Tyler scream in excitement and jump up and down when he saw that we were going to actually ride on the train. In the pictures below you can see one of Tyler sitting on the train yelling CHOO-CHOO!
While we were there we got to see a water show based on the Princess and the Frog, go for a pony ride, and ride on a handful of rides that both Tyler and Reagan were able to enjoy. Tyler’s favorite, however, was the leaping frog ride. As it went around-and-around the frogs would randomly JUMP up and lift the kids up off their seat. Tyler was having the time of his life. Our trip got cut a little short as the rain started to move in shortly after lunch. At first it was upsetting because we had a lot of other things we wanted to try and get in. We weren’t 10 minutes into the drive, however, when both kids fell fast asleep. As exciting as sleeping in a hotel is, it is not the best place to get a good night’s rest. Then running around all morning had worn them out. As I’ve thought about it more, I realize that the rain was actually a good thing because now we can go back again some day and see all the other rides as well.
Here is a slideshow of Tyler’s birthday pictures.
As the sugar rush from the cake wore off and the novelty of all the new toys started to lose its appeal, Tyler was welcomed into a new era in his short but eventful life. An era which includes visits to the dentist. Party’s over kid-o. All that sugar from the days gone past was now about to have its revenge. To prepare him, we read him stories about the dentist and what would be going on there, but it wasn’t until they sat him in the chair and he realized that this wasn’t some crappy story about Dento-saurus but was his real life that the whole dentist idea really sank in. As you can see from the picture below, he was about as excited to be in that chair as I was to be handing over my debit card to the receptionist.
After slowly warming up to the events unfolding in the dentist chair, Tyler was given a clean checkup with no cavities. Plus the hygienist promised him a balloon, so he eventually came to the conclusion that the dentist wasn’t so bad. Thankfully for him he has a mom who not only makes awesome cakes but also makes sure he brushes every morning and evening. So at the end of the day we were all smiles.
So, Happy Birthday Tyler. I hope it was memorable. I know for me and Thesha the past few years have certainly been an experience of a lifetime. We look forward to seeing all the fun adventures that life holds for you as you continue to grow up.
