a new year.

I turned 33 yesterday.  There wasn't much excitement about the day, which is fine with me.  After some coaxing, Garrett said 'Happy Birthday' so that made me smile.

I made waffles for breakfast, and didn't clean up the mess.  Then I made trails of crackers and fruit snacks leading away from me so the kids would leave me alone so I could read.  (I'm {sorta} kidding.)  I read a new book, in one day.  The kids napped well, which was great.  And I took a break to take them to McDonald's for lunch.  I wanted to go on a picnic, but it was supposed to rain and it was pretty cold out, so we settled on a mcdonalds with it new big play area.  I was not impressed with the new setup.  I don't really know what the old one was like, but the new one felt very industrial, and not toddler friendly.  One the kid was about 4 steps up the kind of disappeared behind the black mesh looking walls.  There was a tiny toddler spot that kept my kids entertained for about 20 seconds.

Then Garrett ventured into the big kid area.  I think I would typically describe him as a cautious boy, but I'm often surprised at him bravery and willingness to try new things.  I really couldn't see him once he was inside, and I heard several times from other kids inside, "Oh look, a baby!" or "Be careful, there's a baby." or "Let the baby come with us!"  And they weren't talking about Addie.  Garrett made it to the 3rd level where there was the entrance to a slide that went the the second lever.  He yelled for me, just to make sure I was looking, and then he dove right in.  He went on the slide several times.  And he did not want to leave.  And they built this one to be particularly hard for parents to coax or even grab their kids from.

 If you look closely, you can see Garrett's face looking down at me.

Addie was feeling sad that she was too small to keep up with the big kids.

Oh and the picture at the top was our order number.  I thought 333 and a 'Happy New Year!' was fitting for my 33rd.

And later Paul and I went our for dinner and pedis.

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And a couple extra photos from a couple days before.

Addie the food hoarder.

 Garrett the junior conductor, after his train ride to Santa Barbara.

Addie checking out her ruffles before a dip in the hot tub.

The professor.

Frozen Yogurt.