this has been a super awesome day. i woke at 9:00 am to sunshine. and i felt so rested. we puttered around home a bit, then all four of us headed to the Y for some good exercise. after we returned home, my mom came by with a boquet for me - a huge gerbera daisy in the middle and some pussy willows - so spring-like - in a vase that belonged to my grandma. what a happy treat!
my dear friend elissa called to wish me happy birthday - so i got to visit with her while ben made us a grand brunch. eggs and sausage patties and more bluberry crumble bars (leftover from last night) and coffee - of course. then ben and the kiddos did the dishes. and i took my sweet time in showering and getting ready for the rest of the day.
we drove in the sunlight to starbucks where maddie and ben told me to pick out a mug before we ordered our drinks. i picked one with a porcelain marker - so maddie, isaac and ben could decorate it for me for my birthday.
i wanted to watch maddie and isaac ride the ferris wheel - they make me smile. of course, they didn't mind fulfilling that wish for me. :)
i also wanted to visit a dear friend and meet her almost brand-new baby boy. she and her husband shared part of their saturday afternoon with us.
he is such a tiny little bundle!
ben had done some restaurant research and picked one out to try. we had to wait for about half an hour for a table, but it smelled so yummy (wood-fired rotisserie chicken cooking away), and ben had read good things. so we waited. maddie worked on math (by her own choice) and kept us smiling.
isaac was a bit disgruntled by the wait.
once sitting at the table and knowing that food was on the way, he was his happy, goofy self again.
maddie insisted on a birthday kiss for the picture she snapped of us.
the food was worth the wait. so tasty! and i had a few bits of cheesecake with raspberry sauce for dessert. we all kept commenting on what a grand day we were having together.
we stopped at a store at maddie's request. she and ben went one direction. isaac and i went to find some kettle-corn for him and maddie and some dark chocolate for ben and i.
then, we headed home. we listened to and sang and whistled to this music, this song in particular (thanks to maddie for bringing cd's so we could have some good birthday music), and visited and again talked about how much we all love hanging out together.
back at home, i took a picture of the table - with some of my favorite things on it - before tucking my dear kiddos in and sitting on the couch next to my hubby as he does some research and i write this.
all throughout the day, i had happy birthday notes coming my way, through the mail, by text message, on facebook, on my blog and on my flickr page. this has been a super awesome birthday. i have very dear people in my life, and i am so very, very grateful and blessed.
on a little side-note - this is what i wore today:
this is a pic from my 30th birthday:
some things haven't changed . . .