Grandmama's Birthday

While at Grandmama's house this weekend, we celebrated her 77th birthday.

Jacob and Lucy were pretty enthusiastic to be there. Lucy was so excited she didn't want to take a nap. I had to resort to the old standby--driving her around town until she fell to the soothing power of riding in a car. Shamefully, I rewarded my own virtue by getting a milkshake at the Burger King drive-thru. She did eventually succumb. The day was rainy and cold so I didn't dare to return to the house to transfer her to a bedroom. Surely she'd wake up and be more grouchy. Finally we parked in Grandmama's driveway until she was awake.

We had another great dining out experience, this time at Cracker Barrel. From the kids menu to the wall decoration to their cousin Autumn, plenty of entertainment was on hand. The food was also served quickly. They split a chicken strip kid's dinner. Jacob kept asking for apples from the moment we sat down, so the side was apple sauce. He ate only two spoonfuls before tiring of it. He ate the chicken like a champ, until we gave him a corn muffin. That became the favorite dinner food.

Maryellen hatches an evil plan!

Until we went back home for presents and cake. We'd bought a Bailey's Irish Cream Cake at a bakery on the drive to Grandmama's. Anticipation was strong for this cake. Assuming they'd baked all the alcohol out of it, we let Lucy and Jacob have some. But before we started eating it, Aunt Maryellen had a little chat with her nephew and niece. The conversation went something like this:

Maryellen to Jacob: You're so cute, I'm going to eat you all up!
Jacob: No!!
Maryellen: Okay, then I'll eat Lucy all up!
Jacob: No, you shouldn't eat Lucy all up, you should eat the CAKE all up!

That seemed to settle the matter. We all had an appropriately sized slice of cake.

Maryellen was actually a big help.

The picture of contentment

Lucy's cake made it mostly in her mouth or the immediate vicinity, though as you can tell from her fingers it was her fault:

The picture of happiness

Jacob started telling or guessing everyone's ages. When he was asked about his own age, he said he was three, but in October he'd be "four four." We couldn't figure out why he kept insisting on this until we saw Grandmama's cake.

Let the record show I did not put the candles on the cake.

We had a great time visiting Grandmama and look forward to the next birthday celebration.