Happy Birthday, Diana!

Even though today wasn't the day we chose to celebrate Diana's birthday it was, in fact, Diana's birthday.

To celebrate Diana's birthday we decided to let her open one birthday present. There was only one present in the house from someone actually in the house, so Diana opened her present from Amelia. Diana's present was a new Thomas and Friends DVD. She asked to watch it right away.

After Diana had watched Thomas two-and-a-half times, and after I had cleaned the kitchen floor, I got the girls into the Big Red Car for a trip to the park.

Before running out the door myself I took one last look at my e-mail directions. Even though the directions were to a park I had never been to, in a city I'm not really familiar with, I figured I would memorize them quickly and get there in a timely manner.

Well, after a few wrong turns I did arrive at A park. It wasn't THE park, but it did have a very nice duck pond and a helpful staff who told me exactly where to find the park I was looking for.

Amelia really wanted to visit the park near grandma and grandpa's house because it has a train, ponies, and a carousel.

Well, this park didn't have any ponies, but it did have a lot of the things that the girls enjoy. Admission to the park was very reasonable, and the park wasn't crowded, so it seemed that the rides went on for a long time.

The girls had a good attitude throughout the day, and almost always did what mommy asked. Amelia even let me take a few silly photographs of her, though on at least one occasion she informed me that she was "too busy" to stop and smile for a photograph.


Though the park wasn't Disneyland, it did have one thing in common with the Magic Kingdom: it had dinosaurs that you could see from a train that circled the park. In fact, once Amelia realized that there was a train ride she asked if we would be seeing any dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs didn't move, bellow or screech, but you could ride them. Mickey Mouse would probably slap your hand if you tried to ride the stegosaurus in its prehistoric grand canyon.

One of the girls' favorite rides was the ride with the whales. As Amelia described it, they rode the whales "two times and for lots of times."

The whale ride was the first one they rode in the park and the last ride they went on before we left for lunch. On our way out the gate we walked up to the whale ride and found the last two children there on their way out. Once the ride stopped the operator asked if Amelia and Diana wanted to go around again. Of course, they said, "Yes." The operator asked the girls (and mommy) if they wanted another ride again another eight times or so and each time the girls said, "Yes, again!"

At some point I had to say "No" to the repeated rides because I knew that Diana had to be hungry. Amelia still complained when she had to leave her whale and both girls told mommy that we would have to return to the park after lunch.

After lunch the girls and I went home for cupcakes. The cupcakes had beautiful pink roses on them when I bought them, but they were a little rough for wear after the drive home.

Of course, they still tasted the same.

Diana wasn't sure how to handle her cupcake at first and looked hilarious leaning over the frosting with her mouth open wide. Diana got green frosting all over her face, her clothes, the floor...you get the idea. Amelia was much neater, though she also took several bites of her cupcake without touching it with her hands or a fork.

On Saturday, we will have a real cake - a real chocolate cake. There will be more presents, but probably no carousels or whales...unless I will qualify as one after eating huge hunks of chocolate cake ;).

Lisa