aquarium 101.

We decided to go all out for Nate's third birthday this year (or really, who am I kidding?! We went all out for his first and second birthdays, too).  Nate's birthday party this year will be at House of Bounce, our favorite local inflatable party place! We decided to invite both the two year old and three year old classes at school, since Nate knows kids in both. Hopefully we will have a lot of people show up :)

Nate's birthday present this year is an aquarium. We decided that we would get the aquarium early (read: today!) so that Nate could help out with the set-up and understand everything that goes into it. Today we picked out the aquarium, decorations, and all of the equipment to keep it clean. We're going for freshwater tropical fish. We had an amazing experience at PetSmart (and already wrote in a kudos for the man who helped us). Granted, this was probably more elaborate than a nearly three year old needs, but it will be a good learning experience.  Plus - the bigger the tank, the less maintenance. I learned all sorts of new things today!

We are going to let the tank run for about a week before we get any fish. I'm not sure what to get first, so I'm leaving that up to Chris! :)  Nathan really wanted a Nemo (clown fish) and Dori (blue tang) but I'm not sure that a saltwater tank is a smart choice for a beginner -- especially since we're not sure how committed we are.

Parenting Reflection: To make room for the tank, we moved all of Nate's toy's upstairs. Here's to reclaiming our family room as an adult space!! Our family room has been all about Nate since before he was born, so it feels so strange (but nice) to not have a kid-centric space.

So far, here's what the tank looks like and what Nathan looks like, with the tank:

Also, Nate's gem of the evening: running around singing "booty, booty, booty, booty rockin' underwear". I LOVE this kid!