#1 Turns 11

#1 turned 11 just a few days after we got back from California.  Because of that we kept it pretty low key, but my Mom and Dad were both able to be here which made it special for her.  Mom and Dad hadn't been to our place since they helped us move in so it was nice to have them here for a couple of days when they could see the house as we live in it now, not full of boxes!

We started #1's birthday by going to an early lunch at PF Changs.  This is my favorite place to eat and #1 really likes it to. She had asked before if that could be her birthday dinner with the family, but we told her no because it was too expensive.  But then the other plans we had for her birthday fell through so we decided to splurge a little and go for lunch.  We all enjoyed it. 

Grammy, #3, Pappy, and #2

Birthday Girl and her Daddy

Some more than others!

After lunch we went and watched Despicable Me 2.  I love those movies!  The second one wasn't as funny as the first one, but it had minions in it, so it was worth it!  And I got to go to a funny movie with my Dad, which is always entertaining.  If you ever get to watch Toy Story with him, do it.  You'll laugh harder at him than you will the movie!

The next day we went bowling.  Um, is anyone aware of how expensive bowling is now?  We all really love going and would do it more often if it didn't cost $60 for 2 hours for our family.  Good grief!  Do they sell annual passes or anything, because it is almost as expensive as going to a theme park.  But we did have fun, despite the last 30 minutes or so being the glow ball bowling, where they turn off the lights and everything is lit with black lights.  Yeah, the adults used that as our excuse for not scoring well.  Whatever helps us sleep at night!

And for dinner that night I made the girls' favorite meal--sweet and sour chicken and fried rice.  I think I've finally figured out a technique to make it where it is not quite as much work, but it still requires more effort than I normally like to exert for one meal, especially considering clean up, so it is still going to be an occasional dinner, not one on the regular rotation.

An ice cream cake that she wanted so bad!

Sunday was church and then the parentals had to head home on Monday.  We always miss them when they leave, even after spending three weeks with Mom, but we were thankful for the time we got to spend with them and looked forward to seeing them again.