Adam turned twenty-five on Monday! But, really, the festivities started last Friday. We went on a date to see the Woman in Gold, which we absolutely loved.
It provided plenty of conversation fodder for dinner afterwards at one our favorite local restaurants, The Tipsy Cow. Man, they make a good burger.
The whole week we had been debating what to do on Saturday because the weather forecast was constantly changing. When we awoke to a beautiful day, we packed up and caught the ferry to Bainbridge Island.
Our first stop was the Bloedel Reserve, a mansion surrounded by 150 acres of amazing gardens. It's seriously huge. We were there for ninety minutes and probably only saw a third of the grounds!
We had lunch at Via Rosa 11, an Italian grocer and deli. It was on the way back from the reserve and I had been raving about the food since our girls' trip to the island in March, so Adam was very intrigued to check it out. Our ravioli and meatballs more than exceeded his expectations. When your picky three-year-old is singing about how she "loves, loves, loves meatballs" as she eats, you know it has to be good.
After lunch, we successfully found a parking spot in downtown Winslow and walked around main street. We ducked into Eagle Harbor Book Co. during a rain shower and easily passed the time in their awesome children's section.
We concluded on our island jaunt at Mora Iced Creamery, of course.
Then we hightailed it onto the ferry and headed home, just barely making it back before some friends arrived for dinner. Thank goodness for Trader Joe's pizza dough!
We usually go to the 9:00 Mass on Sunday mornings, but Adam's chant choir was singing at the 11:00. There were baptisms and a special appeal for the archdiocese service fund, so it was already noon by the time Adam got up to sing before communion. Of course, him exiting the pew resulted in epic tantrums from our two hungry girls and me dragging them out to the lobby as they scream, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddyyyyyyyy!" I think it's the first time we've left right after communion because of our toddlers' ridiculous behavior.
So that was....fun. But the day was redeemed by time to work on our Mary garden during naps, followed by a family bike ride.
On Adam's actual birthday, I made springle berry cake (his grandma's famous recipe) for breakfast at his request.
Springle Berry Cake
{From Adam's Grandma}
Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a tube or bundt pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Sift dry ingredients together.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, to butter and sugar.
5. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture, alternating with milk.
6. Add vanilla extract. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 75 minutes.
7. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.
And then he opened our presents before leaving for work.
I found these vintage editions of Brideshead and Kristin Lavransdatter at Powell's Books in Portland last month.
After our usual Monday routine of play time, music class and lunch, I finished his requested birthday cake during naps. It's the chocolate peanut putter cake from Smitten Kitchen.
We finger painted him some birthday cards in the late afternoon.
We had his favorite meal, crawfish etouffee, for dinner.
At one point, Claire said "I really like this pink meat!" which might have made him prouder than the first time she called him Daddy. Definitely a close second.
Then it was time for cake!
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You are awesome.