Celebrating #2 With Grandma!

Erika and I had such a great time today celebrating Erika's 2nd birthday. Her birthday is not till June 3rd, but we decided to celebrate today. The festivities started with a late lunch/early dinner at Chili's.Erika ordered a corn dog (which she completely consumed the "dog" part of corn dog) and a bowl of corn in which she almost finished. My mother was surprised how much food Erika can pack away! Then I asked the waitress to bring Erika a scoop of ice cream and do the whole clapping and singing bit for her birthday. Erika was mesmerized by all the people clapping and singing to her! It was fun to watch her reaction. basically she kind of just stared at them!Then it was off to party hardy with Chucky Cheese. It was a new experience for all three of us. Very cute and very affordable. Every activity is only a quarter which I thought was very reasonable. For the first 1/2 hour Erika was more interested in just checking the place out. We weren't even too sure if she would ask to go on anything!But soon she was having fun by participating in no time. If you look closely in the picture above, you can see the grin on her face as she does the "Whack a Mole" (one of my favorite stress relievers!). She was being such a big girl! Oh wait she is almost two now...she IS a big girl. Time for another one right...?They had the place separated into two sections. one side was Erika friendly and then the other side was more for the bigger kids. I would definitely go back there as a place to go on maybe a rainy day or a very hot "I need air conditioning" type of day. There was even two rides/stations that took pictures and printed them for us to keep!This ride was really cool. It was a bike that goes up in the air and pretty high too. I wish I could have captured the expression on her face as it went up. She was a bit concerned but remained brave. I am having some problems with my camera and am unable to even see the picture I am taking so really it is all guess work!The carousel situation was funny. I kept encouraging Erika to try that ride out. and then when I finally got her on it...I saw a very small sign that said it was out of order! Made for a cute picture any way!This was a simulated roller coaster ride which she seemed to really enjoy. I think she may actually take after Peter and I. We both like roller coasters, to an extent. Nothing too crazy but we do like them. Erika asked to do this ride a few times.Again she was Miss. Independent and did not want to have her hand held while we were there. that was really okay because my mother and I were standing right there and it wasn't too crowded either because we were there late afternoon/early evening.This ride I think was her favorite and it didn't even do anything. But she seriously spent at least 1/2 an hour sitting on it and buckling and unbuckling the seat belt. then saying "I did it" every time she managed to get it buckled by herself! My silly girl.

Next up - Present Time with Grandma!