An Eventful Monday!

Last night, we had our life group friends over for dessert in celebration of N's birthday. He typically favors pies over cakes, so I was surprised (and a little relieved, because let's face it, a cake is much less labor intensive than a pie) when he requested pineapple upside down cake for his birthday. He also wanted cherry vanilla ice cream, which prompted one of our friends to inquire whether N has an affinity for cherries.

After all our guests had left, the kids were asleep, and as we were cleaning up together, N commented that he had never had so many kids at his birthday before.

I can't decide whether that's funny or sad.

Today was N's actual birthday. My sweet husband empties the dishwasher for me every morning before he leaves for work, so as a surprise, I did it late last night and left a "Happy birthday!" note in there for him to find. He had slept in an extra half hour this morning so that actually worked out really well!

After N left, B and I quickly ate breakfast and made a birthday card. B dictated what he wanted me to write on the inside, and part of the message included, "I hope you like your card. It's adorable." I had to pretend that I needed a drink of water to keep from laughing when he said that part.

We were going to our monthly outing to the Nature Explore Family Club at a nearby Environmental Education Center, and since B wanted to get Daddy a balloon for his birthday, I had to wake the baby up before she was ready so we could fit everything in this morning. Thankfully, she's a pretty happy little morning person!

We picked up the balloon and headed off to "the garden center" (which is what B calls it). The topic today was "Yummy in My Tummy: Fresh from the Garden." Last month, we talked about pollination and all the different pollinators, which led nicely into today's lesson about fresh fruits and vegetables.

After the lesson in the classroom with Miss Charlotte, we all walked over to the community garden.

There are fifty raised garden beds in the community garden, tended by about thirty gardeners from the local community. Much of the produce is donated to food pantries. After a water break, we took a little tour of the herb garden, where we got to smell various plants, including sage, which B declared smelled yucky.

We also got to taste stevia and spearmint plants--B quite enjoyed the former but spit out the latter. Together, they are called "nature's garden gum."

The kids then got to pick fresh produce from the garden, wash them, and bag them to bring them home! What a treat!

After B was done washing his goodies, we walked back over to the tables, where Miss Erin had sliced up from fresh Armenian cucumbers. Those were crunchy and delicious. I have never seen B eat cucumbers quite so enthusiastically! He kept going back for more!

Then Miss Erin asked for a volunteer to come help her pick a watermelon from the garden, and Little B enthusiastically went off with her (which actually surprised me, given B's normal unwillingness to leave us, but everyone there is so nice and great with the kids). He helped twist that melon right off the vine and carried it all the way back to the table all by himself.

We were sent home with our produce and some sunflower seeds from some giant sunflowers that one of the volunteers had grown. Such a fun outing!

N's office isn't too far from the Environmental Education Center, so we headed over there to surprise him.

The man at the registration desk tried calling his office extension several times, but there was no answer! So after waiting several minutes with an excited little boy who was getting increasingly impatient to see his daddy, I finally took this photo and texted it to N.

He came out right away to get us. We hadn't visited this office yet, so we got to meet some of his team members, including a lady who had sent us a pretty little wall hanging for A when she was born. It was nice to put some faces to names!

Once we got home, we had lunch and both kids quickly conked out from an eventful morning.

Unfortunately, I had to spend the afternoon at the dentist's for a postponed appointment (N had to unexpectedly go out of town the day of my original appointment).

I came home numb and tired from the pain medication, so we ordered a pizza and called it a night. I promised N that one of these years, I won't be under the weather or first-trimester pregnant for his birthday!

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start!