Another perfect birthday

Well, it's almost over and I can't complain. The day was great. It was sunny and warm and just perfect. The day dawned with some early birthday emails which brought electronic cards, a birthday web page (still giggling Bubbles), and many warm wishes. Throughout the day I continued to get emails, and even some lovely blog entries with more birthday wishes.

First thing in the morning, a friend of mine brought me a good morning birthday chai and a chocolate croissant along with some good company to start the day, and Bill made cinnamon buns. It proved to be prophetic for the way the rest of the day would go.

My SIL, Deb and her Mom took me and the girls to lunch, and my Dad met us there. We had a great lunch, and the girls were introduced to jello. Girls, jello...jello, girls. They also had ice cream which as you will see was a recurring theme. I was very touched by the fact that Deb made me a miniature quilt replicating the larger quilt she made earlier this year, and that I liked so much. It's going to look great hanging in my living room.

After lunch, it was off to the bank to take care of some necessary business. While there, I saw the oddest of things. Apparently I have not been in a bank in longer than I thought. Some of the physical security measures like plexiglass, vault gates, etc. have been removed, and instead there were a gajillion security cameras. Ok, that might be a slight exageration, but I did count 15, and those were just the obvious ones. After leaving the bank I went to my credit union where the same bizarre phenomena had occurred. They are a little smaller, so there were only 5 security cameras there, but all the bullet proof plexi that they had put in about 5 years ago was gone. I was once again face to face with the tellers. How odd.

Anyway, after that it was home for a little birthday nap - I am aging you know, and then off to dinner with some of the family. We went to Benihanas and I had lobster which Riley happily shared. Sam would have no part of it. The real entertainment however, was at the end of the meal when the girls got more ice cream. They proceeded to pick up their bowls to eat the ice cream while simultaneously pouring half of it down their shirts. All in all, it was a good time.

Lastly, to top off the day, Liz and Andrea were here when we got home (patiently waiting cuz we were late). They brought a delicious lemon cake complete with shimmer candles which the girls helped me blow out, and a HUGE chocolate eclair, not to be confused with a Yule Log. It was such a nice treat. The girls got to play, had some cake and eclair, and a little milk. They were doing their best to entertain us (and avoid going to bed of course.)

About 10:15 I finally had to trundle the little ones off to bed (WAY past their 7:30 bedtime at this point) and Liz and Andrea quietly slipped out.

After the little ones were tucked into bed, I hopped into the bathroom for some personal business, tooth brushing, etc. and found the following: It had apparently been left by some mischievious elves while waiting for us to get home. I have to say, it was a great end to a great day.

Thank you to everyone who came together to make my day wonderful. I hope I can return the favor when it's your turn to celebrate.