Last Week Recap, Part Two

So.... after we got home from NYC and picked up the girls from Camp Gram, things returned to normal for all of two days. On Thursday, February 18, 2010, my first born turned three years old. I can hardly stand to think about it too much, but as the photos I put in my last post clearly show, she's not a baby anymore. Looks like it snuck up on me sometime between last February and this February.

Even though we had a bit of a party planned for Saturday, I couldn't just let her actual day of birth pass by without any fanfare, so we cooked up some big fun. In the morning, I took the girls to our nearest nice mall (about 25 mins. away) where they have a play area in the food court. They both had a ball playing on all the toys and running around with the other kids. There was a boat that Kate immediately set up shop in, and even though she wasn't doing anything more exciting than just sitting there on the seat, she was grinning so brightly that other mothers were stopping to admire her! Alas, I have no pictures because I remembered all of the other 236 things I normally need whenever I leave the house with the girls, but I did not remember to bring the camera. At least that also means there's no evidence of how much they both cried when it was time to leave. But on to the next adventure!

After swinging by the Pottery Barn Kids store, which Maggie calls The Store with Bunk Beds and Also Regular Beds and Also Chairs (seriously), so that she could admire the bunk beds with Star Wars sheets, and also the regular beds with pink flower sheets, and also the Maggie sized chairs which come in all colors and sometimes polka dots, we headed over to the Rainforest Cafe. I worried a bit that this restaurant would turn out to be a disaster since it looks like a rainforest inside with fake jungle foliage and animatronic jungle animals that roar and a simulated thunder storm every half hour, and I'd heard that it scares the bajeezus out of some kids. We were given a table next to a big fish tank but not too near the gorillas or the elephants (the noisiest animals) or the waterfall. The girls had a blast! They weren't scared at all, even of the thunder storm. I got suckered into getting Maggie the giant frog-shaped sippy cup of cherry slush, but the joy on her face made it worth every penny.

By this point, Kate was fading fast, so we skibbled (any of you guys fans of the Eloise books??) over to the Mrs. Fields counter to grab some chocolate chip cookie cupcakes with pink frosting, hit the ladies' room at Macy's, and then headed out for home. Later that night I made breakfast for dinner - a favorite in our house - and then we sang "Happy Birthday," Maggie blew out her votive candle (the only one we had except for Kate's number 1 candle, we realized too late), and ate our cookie cupcakes with pink frosting. I think she enjoyed herself on her birthday.

Stay tuned for Part Three: The Party, coming soon (ish)! I promise!