Early Birthday Celebration

Elliot will turn 3 on December 13th but since Derrick will be out of town for a business trip, we decided to celebrate our boy's birthday a bit early. So when Elliot woke up this morning, he discovered decorations and gifts all set up on the table for him. Even though it is a December birthday, we always make sure that his birthday is as special as everyone else's, which means putting some Christmas decor away and birthday decorations with balloons and banners up.

Our little boy was so surprised and happy and ready to open his gifts:

Elliot loves to play with Duplo and was excited about a new Duplo firetruck, more train tracks to add to his train set, and a construction set. He also loves to race his little remote control car. He really appreciates all the gifts and a special thank you to all his grandparents. 

His wish was a Paw Patrol cake and since we don't eat much cake, we decorated some cupcakes and the birthday boy was delighted about having Chase and Co on his cupcake and decorations. 

He truly enjoyed the cupcake and frosting:

Instead of having a birthday party for Elliot, we bought tickets to ICE at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. ICE is a holiday attraction with scenes from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer brought to life in magnificent sculptures hand-carved from more than 2 million pounds of ice. So we bundled up in our snow gear (it helped that temps that day were only 36F/ 2C) and off we went.

Inside the exhibition, the temperature was a balmy 9F/ -13C) but luckily, each guest got to wear a fancy blue parka over their clothes to stay warm (it was a bit difficult to move around in all these clothes, hence the stiff poses).

Amelia was most excited about the two-story tall ice slides:

 

Funny fact: Because of the extreme cold temperature in the exhibition, most phones and cameras stopped working half-way thru. Luckily I used my Nikon first and had my phone as a backup for the last few pictures (albeit a bit unclear due to the cold air): 

The last scene was a a full nativity in stunning, crystal clear ice, which was narrated and lit up.

This ICE exhibition was very cool (literally) and definitely worth seeing but after roughly 45-60 minutes, we were all ready to warm up with hot cocoa. Despite the fact that it was only 36F/2C and sunny outside, it felt like spring. 

Afterwards, we took the kids to Rainforest Cafe at the Opry Mills Mall for a late lunch/ early dinner and it was so fun. This restaurant looks like an indoor rainforest, complete with lush vegetation, tropical rainstorms, trumpeting elephants and entertaining gorillas. Both kids loved the fish tanks and animals.

A momma's boy hopefully for ever and ever:

It was a full and fun day and we celebrated our little man big time. He enjoyed his early birthday and is proudly telling everyone that he is "thee" (3) now. But in the end of the day, he still is little and wanted nothing more than cuddle with me before bed, which makes this mommy very happy. Happy birthday, Elliot!