29.

There, I said it ... last year of my twenties! I was feeling really good about turning 29, until it happened. Now I'm thinking about what kind of thinks are in store for me next and counting my (many) gray hairs.

As birthdays go, I've been a very lucky girl. I have been begging, yes begging, every time that I cut the yard, for a weed whacker. Guess what...my parents got me one! I'm sure the people in the Home Depot parking lot thought I was crazy :)

My husband is also amazing and bought me an outdoor speaker system for our deck! Also, kudos to him for installing it by himself! Can't wait to use it! Of course, given that my gifts are outdoor themed, it's rained both days since my birthday :) I tried to do a panoramic photo on my phone of the speaker system -- it somewhat worked. They sound amazing!

We also went to dinner at Olive Garden, which was so delicious. We rarely go out to eat anymore, so it definitely was a treat. Here are some pictures from our evening -- some more hilarious than others:

Totally unrelated: we lost our first fish. But did you know that Petsmart offers a 2 week guarantee for fish? Catch is that you have to bring in the dead one ... so there is a dead fish, in a ziploc bag in my refrigerator. I'm trying really hard not to think about it, but just thought I would share.

new fish.

Our aquarium is starting to come along! We've bought our first two batches of fish and, while it's only been a few hours since the second batch went in, all of the fish are alive and haven't tried to eat each other (yet).

We bought four blonde guppies on 7/21 (originally $3.29 but on sale for $2.63!) that look like this:

 

 According to Petsmart, here's what we've learned about them:

• Diet: Flake, Frozen, Freeze-dried
• Maximum size: 1.5"
• Water temperature: 72-82° F
• Swimming level: Top (I had no idea that there was a within-tank swimming level preference)
• Experience level: Beginner 
• Tank Setup: 5+ gallons, densely planted

 Nathan got to put in his first fish which made me a little nervous, but he was so proud of himself to be able to help!

Tonight, we added four more fish to the tank called Black Mollies (originally $2.19 each but on sale for $1.75 each!) that look like this:

Again, according to Petsmart, their vital facts include:

• Diet: Flake, Frozen, Freeze-dried
• Maximum size: 3"
• Water temperature: 72-82° F
• Swimming level: Middle
• Experience level: Beginner
• Tank Setup: 10+ gallons, moderately planted

After putting these into the tank tonight, Nate was very excited and kept screaming "ta-da!" - of course with a bag and mouthful of popcorn

So the adventure in aquarium life continues. Chris is really into doing all the research, Nate wants to feed them constantly, and I alternate between dreading cleaning the tank and enjoying the sound of the water. As we add more fish/plants/anything else, I plan on documenting the information here so that we don't accidentally buy incompatible fish -- how exactly would you explain that to a nearly three year old?

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!