Happy Birthday, Bro!

Yesterday was my middle brother Garret's 21st birthday and we took him out for dinner. I know, you are thinking "he just turned 21 and he went out with you and your kids?" Yup. He was a bit of a -ahem- rebel when he was younger, so the "usual" 21 bday party antics really weren't in order. Kind of a "been there, done that, puked on the t-shirt" sort of thing. So instead we went to a local gourmet pizza place that has lots of micro-brew beers on tap and had a great dinner with him and his wife.

I feel really lucky to have such a great brother. When we were kids he was a royal pain in my arse (right. what little brother isn't...). About the time he turned 12, when most brothers are at their height of buttheadedness, mine got totally cool. I was 19 and was a swim teacher. He volunteered his whole summer to help me out and all he wanted in return was a day at Six Flags. I know a good deal when I see one, so I took him up on his offer and we had a blast hanging out all summer, teaching little kids to swim and then at the end of the summer we whooped it up at Six Flags.

I took a lame pic below of a page in my scrapbook. Can you see us hamming it up all super tan with our bleach blonde hair? Good times, good times. I can always count on Garret to be dumb with me and have fun. He has become such a great man. When our dad died, he was the closest to him, so I was really worried about him for a bit, but he has really made a great life for himself and his darling wife, Kate. I am super proud of you, dude! Happy Birthday, I really hope you had a great night! I love you!

It's Party Day!

This morning when we woke up we were treated to an excited three year old's cries of "Train caaaake! Mooooomma thank you!!!" as monkey boy went into the kitchen and saw his cake decked out for his party tonight. He immediatly ran back to our room to give us kisses and hugs and talk in an excited three year old stream about his party, trains, birthdays and cake.



We celebrated a bit on Thursday with our dinner out, but today was the real party day. We started out by going to breakfast at a local pancake house called Pancake Circus. Pancake Circus deserves it's own post and lots of pics dedicated to it, but that is for another day, today is about the party. *I just found the link and review of the Circus and I don't think I could put it any better than she did, but I will post more pics sometime. The place is a serious trip!* We had our huge pancake breakfast and came home to decorate for our train party. Our little guy is never without a train or two nearby, so naturally when I wanted to use his toy trains to decorate for his party there wasn't a one to be found. We managed to make do, get the house ready, the food made and out to the Railroad Museum on time.



We spent a lovely afternoon admiring trains and talking to the old men who spend their time volunteering at the museum. Everytime we go I meet a new nice old retired train worker and everytime I go I notice they are getting older and older. Soon these gems are going to be gone, these guys who spent their youth traveling the country by railroad, working it and loving it. Why is it that railroad travel is so romantic? Probably because no one does it anymore, so it has a charm that plane or car travel just doesn't have.



My great grandfather worked the railroad and though I never met him, my grandma would tell us kids about growing up in the Sierras in a railroading town. At one time there was an exhibit in the museum based on a photograph taken of the railroad in the 30's. In the photograph there was a small house, a shack almost, on the side of the mountain and my grandma would point to it and say, that was our house! That was always the highlight of our visit, "look for grandma's house!" Now, 20 years later, the exhibit is gone, but I still feel like a kid again looking at the giant peices of machinery.


While we were there, taking a break from the trains, our Little Peanut girl decided to make it official that she can walk! She has been walking on secret for a few weeks now, sitting down as soon as someone looks her direction. But today with all our family and friends close by she decided that she would prove that she could walk with the rest of us. She must have known that today wasn't about her and needed to prove herself. ;)




All in all we had a pretty special day and I think that our guy had a great time. We might even have to go back for his birthday next year!

A Birthday, a Momiversary and a Dinner to celebrate it all...

Look at that face! That little face turned three today. Last night we took him to our favorite restaurant, the Tower Cafe for dinner and dessert. My aunt is the pastry chef there, which probably plays a role in why that place is our favorite. The food is great, but the desserts are amazing, and I really don't think I am being biased because I even like the desserts that aren't her recipes.

Well, when we got there, we were lucky enough to catch Lou before she was heading out for the night and she joined us for dinner. My monkey boy was so excited to Auntie Lou with us and even made me move so she could sit with him (which made her day). We had a lovely dinner (Texan Skirt Steak, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, three different desserts...) and enjoyed our little celebration.
Some of Lou's yummy concoctions in this snap above. She has been noticed by a local artist Kathrine Lemke Waste. Katherine paints desserts and has asked my aunt if she could paint some. Wouldn't that lemon tart be an amazing painting? Yum! If you ever find yourself in Sacramento, be sure to check out Tower Cafe and maybe take in a movie at the adjoining Tower Theatre.

So today being monkey's birthday also marks a very special day for me...it's my Momiversary (and Dadiversary for A)! The three year anniversary of becoming a mommy! The last three years couldn't have gone by any faster or been any more fun. This little boy has made Aaron and me so happy (and frustrated and mad...) and was the first link to completing our family. He showed up 3 1/2 weeks early when we were completely unprepared. I thought first time moms always had their babies late, so I figured I could pack my bag later.

But, no. MB wanted to be part of the show early and while standing in church I felt my water break. Nothing like breaking your water in a public place! It was pretty funny because I scurried out to see what was what and a few people saw me leave and then a few minutes later saw someone come back to get Aaron and him jump up, grab our stuff and run out. 12 hours later almost to the minute we greeted our baby boy. That day was definitely one of the happiest days of our lives!

Our Monkey is an amazing little guy. He is the most encouraging kid. He will tell us "Good Job, Mom. Good Job, Dad" for the most mundane tasks like buckling him into is car seat, making toast, changing sisters diaper...Last week he was thoughtfully sitting on the couch and he turned to me and said, "Momma, thanks for buying food." Well, OK! He tells me that my clothes are nice and that I am pretty and beautiful. He tells us that dinner is "delicious" and sometimes "disgusting". He loves his little sister and in the morning if she cries we'll hear him saying to her "What's wrong little peanut girl? Don't cry!" Lately he has noticed every bump, scratch, cut on him body and thinks he'd going to die. Just this morning he came to me and showed me the palm of his hand and declared "My arm is broken" very seriously. Life with this kid is never boring and almost always fun!

Happy Birthday!!