41 and balloon parade

Yesterday was my birthday! To celebrate we did one of my favorite past times - whale watching! The last time we went whale watching Aidan was about 19 months old and it wasn't very successful. This time he enjoyed watching for the whales but spent most of the time hanging out with his dad on the deck upstairs. We got to see a few Fin Whales (which grow to be about 90 feet long), a few humpback whales, and a pod of about 100 rare dolphins. The dolphins were all scarred because they are the type that fight big squid for food. They were bigger than your typical bottle nose dolphin and appeared white because of the scarring. Call me a big nerd because I love whale watching and ocean wildlife but it is true. I got a very special birthday present this year- a new car! It wasn't an expected gift and lets just say the hubby hadn't intended on purchasing one, but my car has been having major problems and it was necessary. I absolutely love, love, love my car. It feels like I am driving a spaceship with the fancy schmancy onboard computer. Thanks Clinto!

Between Christmas and New Years we went to the balloon parade and I forgot to blog about it and post pictures. We drove to a trolley station and then took the trolley into town as an extra treat for Aidan. It was an awesome day!

Mama's birthday- whale watching.
I totally forgot to take pics of the whales. Here is a really bad shot of a couple of the dolphins.
Taking the trolley downtown to watch the parade.
Hanging with dad on the trolley
one of my favorite pics from the day! Watching the parade.
A few of the balloons.


These days Aidan sticks out his tongue anytime you attempt to get a picture of him.

*sigh* look how grown up he looks....
Riding the trolley home.