My Birthday

This past Monday was my birthday. I had a great day! JL took the day off so we were able to spend time together and do some of Mom's favorite things.


The kids couldn't wait any longer, so we started the day off opening presents. This was perfectly fine with me. Then we had breakfast and hit the road. My original plan was to go to Lost Maples (a beautiful park that has a ton of trees that change color this time of year.) Rare for these parts, and one of my favorite things about fall. But alas, it was 5 hours away and we didn't plan well enough to just do that on a whim.





So instead, we went for a drive. We were still able to see a ton of fall color, so I was pleased. We ended up at a park the kids really love. The weather was a bit chilly, but with coats, no one complained much. (Well, except for JL who has to have it 80+ constantly to be happy!) :) Isabel and Wyatt live on the swings. James ran around for a while pretending to be a pirate before he found a pole that he could hang upside down from.







After the park, we decided we were just way to near one of my favorite hamburger joints to pass it up. True, this hamburger joint is in a gas station, but don't let that stop you from trying the food. You won't be disappointed! There is nothing like a good ol' fashioned grease burger! YUM!




We ended the day with lasagna at the house complete with a homemade chocolate cake. I decided to be ambitious this year and make my mother-in-law's recipe that I adore! The cake turned out great - it was the frosting I had issues with. I just couldn't get the consistency I wanted, and my patience was running thin. So, I decided what I had tasted fine so I smoothed it on the cake. It stayed on and looked pretty for about 2 minutes before it started to slide down the sides of my cake. No matter - we ate it anyway. It looked awful, but it tasted great!