I love how we celebrated my birthday this year. On Friday evening, Ryan and I met my parents at The Georgian Club. It is such a treat to get time with them where the girls are not with us. I think we all had a great time. Mom, Dad and I enjoyed the lobster bisque (one of my favorite things to eat) while Ryan started with Caribbean Chicken Kabobs. For our entrees, I had a delicious flank steak with bordelaise sauce, Ryan had a panko-encrusted rack of lamb, Dad had balsamic glazed duck and Mom enjoyed a sampler platter of small portions of steak, chicken and shrimp. For dessert, Ryan and I shared their famous praline basket with ice cream and berries while Mom and Dad shared a Macadamia Nut Pie slice. It was all delicious! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I am so thankful to have such wonderful parents, and I am so grateful for all they have given and taught me. I love them very much.
A picture of me with the girls on Saturday morning.
I really wanted to spend some time with the girls and Ryan on Saturday morning because I had decided I would take the whole weekend off from work (a treat in the middle of tax season!). We decided to take the girls on a trip to Imagine It Childrens Museum. Lily loves the museum! When I told her where we were going, her eyes got really big, and she broke into a big smile; she said "Really? Yea!!!" Mia has been once before, when Grandpops and Grandma Jan visited, but she was only a few months old, so this was the first time she could go and actually play; we knew she would love it. We were very excited when we found out that Brian, Parker and Macey would join us. This is such a fun place to visit with kids!
Mia and Macey had a good time in the area designated for the under 2 set.
Mia had a fun time climbing in and out of the tubes.
Trying to learn how to play the piano. Mia loves music!
Lily had fun grocery shopping and then going to pay for them at the cash register. I handed her each item, and she would ring it up. A small item would get one small number while larger items would receive several numbers. She then put each item back into the baskets; she wouldn't let those baskets out of her sight for most of our visit there.
Ryan spent most of the museum visit with Mia and the Hendersons while Lily and I spent time together. As attached to me as Lily is, Mia is attached to Ryan!
Brian, Parker and Macey had fun together too.
Lily, Mia and I enjoyed playing with the moon sand together.
Just before we left, Lily painted which she has never done there before. They have a big white wall, and they give the kids a brush and three colors of paint. Lily painted a few lines and liked seeing how the colors mixed together.
Each time we go to the museum, something different holds Lily's attention which really fascinates me. This time she loved "driving" the big bus. I was a little surprised by this because there isn't much to it. It's a big grocery delivery truck, and it only has a wheel that turns; it's not like there are a lot of bells and whistles on it. However, she kept going back to it again and again. She would look through the window, and if someone else was sitting in the driver seat, she would say "Let's sit on the bench Mommy and wait our turn. We'll wait til he's done and then it will be our turn, okay?" I was impressed with her patience because that is not one of her usual virtues. She also had a lot of fun with the trains which have never really interested her much before. I thought it was funny at one point, there were about 10 little boys playing with the trains...and Lily. She didn't even notice that a bunch of boys were around her because she was having a great time pushing the three magnetic train cars through the tunnels and over the bridges. She amazes me.
After the museum, I wanted to go to The Varsity for lunch; what a treat! It was really crowded but we managed to find a table to hold all of us. Lily wolfed down her hot dog and some of my onion rings while Mia preferred to stick with her graham crackers. Parker and Lily were thrilled when we got ice cream after lunch. I know this food isn't good for you, but I love it; it was the perfect place to have lunch!
We got the girls home after lunch then it was time for naps. After we put the girls down, Ryan and I quickly packed and headed out. Our Birmingham family had come over to keep the girls for us. We headed to the Marriott near Lenox Mall. We were both exhausted from all the work we have been doing during tax season; we really wanted a chance to get away so we could rest. We used Marriott points to stay; a free hotel room is always nice! We had planned on ordering room service (always my favorite meal), but really, the menu didn't sound that great. We decided to go downstairs to Shula's instead. I am something of a club sandwich connoisseur, so when I saw that on the menu, I had to try it (I was still pretty full from lunch so a big steak didn't sound appealing). It was one of the best clubs I have ever had. It was on chibatta bread, and it had this spicy mustard-mayonnaise spread that was fantastic. Really delicious. After dinner we went back upstairs and watched our Netflix rental which was a 45 minute stand up comedian named Brian Regan; it had some pretty funny moments. We both took Tylenol PM and were out by 10PM. I didn't wake up until 10:30 Sunday morning (really 9:30 if you don't consider the time change). It was awesome! I felt so rested; this was definitely needed.
Liz told me how Lily picked out all the decorations. They had picked a Happy Birthday balloon that matched the paper products, and then Lily saw a princess balloon. She told Liz "I'm sure Mommy will like this one too." How funny is she? We rested for a little while until Lily woke up from her nap. She came in and immediately said "Mommy, come see your surprise." I followed her into the dining room and she said "Ta Da!" She was so excited and proud of what she had done! She told me about going to The Dollar Store and picking everything out...the plates, napkins, streamers, balloons, party hats and my personal favorite: "honky horns." They are the noise makers that you usually see at New Years, but I thought it was hilarious that Lily called them "honky horns." Cracks me up. Here's a picture of Lily showing everything to me.
Lily loved the party hats and insisted we all wear them!
Mia however wasn't so sure about the hat.
Ryan and Mia were ready for the party.
They had also picked up Jim and Nick's for us to have for dinner and a cake from Publix which is always good. They make the best cakes there. Lily was so excited about the cake and couldn't wait for it! We were really glad that our friend, Kyle Kline, was driving through Atlanta this evening, so he stopped in and had dinner and dessert with us. It was a treat to catch up with him.
Blowing out the candles on my cake. We borrowed Lily's 3 and Mia's 1 candles; they didn't mind.
Thank you to everyone who made this a wonderful birthday! I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful family and friends. This was a great celebration weekend!
We got the girls home after lunch then it was time for naps. After we put the girls down, Ryan and I quickly packed and headed out. Our Birmingham family had come over to keep the girls for us. We headed to the Marriott near Lenox Mall. We were both exhausted from all the work we have been doing during tax season; we really wanted a chance to get away so we could rest. We used Marriott points to stay; a free hotel room is always nice! We had planned on ordering room service (always my favorite meal), but really, the menu didn't sound that great. We decided to go downstairs to Shula's instead. I am something of a club sandwich connoisseur, so when I saw that on the menu, I had to try it (I was still pretty full from lunch so a big steak didn't sound appealing). It was one of the best clubs I have ever had. It was on chibatta bread, and it had this spicy mustard-mayonnaise spread that was fantastic. Really delicious. After dinner we went back upstairs and watched our Netflix rental which was a 45 minute stand up comedian named Brian Regan; it had some pretty funny moments. We both took Tylenol PM and were out by 10PM. I didn't wake up until 10:30 Sunday morning (really 9:30 if you don't consider the time change). It was awesome! I felt so rested; this was definitely needed.
We thought about getting room service breakfast, but decided it didn't look great and was overpriced, so instead, we went to Lenox Mall to California Pizza Kitchen which was yummy. We then shopped for a little bit, stopped by Target and then got home. The girls were sleeping when we got home, but I was so surprised to walk and see this...
Liz told me how Lily picked out all the decorations. They had picked a Happy Birthday balloon that matched the paper products, and then Lily saw a princess balloon. She told Liz "I'm sure Mommy will like this one too." How funny is she? We rested for a little while until Lily woke up from her nap. She came in and immediately said "Mommy, come see your surprise." I followed her into the dining room and she said "Ta Da!" She was so excited and proud of what she had done! She told me about going to The Dollar Store and picking everything out...the plates, napkins, streamers, balloons, party hats and my personal favorite: "honky horns." They are the noise makers that you usually see at New Years, but I thought it was hilarious that Lily called them "honky horns." Cracks me up. Here's a picture of Lily showing everything to me.
Lily loved the party hats and insisted we all wear them!
Mia however wasn't so sure about the hat.
Ryan and Mia were ready for the party.
They had also picked up Jim and Nick's for us to have for dinner and a cake from Publix which is always good. They make the best cakes there. Lily was so excited about the cake and couldn't wait for it! We were really glad that our friend, Kyle Kline, was driving through Atlanta this evening, so he stopped in and had dinner and dessert with us. It was a treat to catch up with him.
Here's a picture of us in hats and with honky horns before the cake.
Blowing out the candles on my cake. We borrowed Lily's 3 and Mia's 1 candles; they didn't mind.
Thank you to everyone who made this a wonderful birthday! I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful family and friends. This was a great celebration weekend!
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