Luke's Birthday Festivities

Here is the birthday boy waiting for his breakfast prior to our departure to the Georgia*Aquarium.

Love those teeth!

The first exhibits we looked at were the touching pools.  Luke wanted so badly to touch the sting rays swimming by, especially when he saw other kids touching them.  I've seen him with our dogs and cats and gentle is not a word that computes yet - sorry buddy! 

This was the first big tank exhibit we came to.  Luke was so excited - he was pounding on the glass and jabbering up a storm!

  Sissy being silly and pretending to be a fish.

Checking out the albino alligator.

So blessed am I to be her mom!

Sarah and I were waving our arms trying to get the otters attention.  They were curled up on a ledge and were not interested in coming down in the water.

I enjoyed being out with my family and occupying my mind with something other than the loss of our babies.  I forgot, however, that there would be pregnant women at the aquarium, so I did have some moments where I choked back some tears. This is Maris, a beluga whale.  As we were standing at the exhibit, a lady came over the loud speaker and announced that they had just discovered that Maris is pregnant and due to deliver in the spring.  Sheesh.  I felt really incompetent at that point.  Even the whale was pregnant.

My NEDC sisters will understand the meaning of this picture and how it affected me when I saw it.  I just couldn't get away from reminders of our transfer and loss!

Checking out the penguins.

Luke was fascinated with all the kids at the aquarium.

At the coral reef exhibit

LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!!!!!!!!!  EAT HIM UP!  YUM!!!!!!!!

I think this is my favorite picture!  This exhibit is HUGE.  We were only able to get a small portion of it in the picture.  It holds 6.3 million gallons of water and thousands of fish, including 4 whale sharks and 4 manta rays.  It was impressive!  We spent a good deal of time here and Luke was mesmerized with the huge fish swimming by him.

We can't wait to bring Luke back when he's older and can remember and understand more!  After our great trip to the aquarium, Dad surprised us with dinner at Olive Garden.  Woo hoo!

Sissy made Luke a triple layer chocolate cake!

We don't have the concept of blowing yet, so Mom had to help.  Luke was more interested in grabbing that pretty flame!

He wasted no time digging in to that cake!

It was a messy affair indeed!

This is Luke's buddy Nate.  As you can see, Nate is suffering from a case of the chicken pox.  Nate came with his mommy and daddy to eat some pizza and birthday cake with us.  Luke was playing with Nate last Sunday at church just before Nate broke out the next day, so he was already exposed.  I suspect that in another week to ten days, I'll be posting some pictures of a spotted Lukey.