My 30th birthday

I had the priviledge of turning 30 years old last week Wednesday.  It was a fantastic day.  Dave got up early and cooked me a yummy breakfast (scrambled eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns).  We helped out with the younger kid's games at BBC's VBS program, then had plans to spend the afternoon at Lost Island Waterpark.  My friend Julie heard our plans and offered to watch Vanessa for us so we could more easily enjoy the time with the two older, more capable kids.  That was a wonderful present.  I set up Vanessa's portable crib in Julie's house and she took a long 2 hr nap.  Julie got her up and played with her for another hour until we picked her up.  Julie said Vanessa wouldn't let her out of her sight.

As soon as I laid Vanessa down for a nap at Julie's, we left for the waterpark in Waterloo.  We parked int he parking lot there, got the kids changed into their suits, rubbed them thoroughly with sunblock, and decided to eat lunch there first.  After some cheeseburgers and chicken sandwiches, we were "lost" in Lost Island not really knowing where to start.  We bounced on floaties in the wave pool at first.  Violet enjoyed that a lot.  We wanted to find some rides that the kids could go on, so we wandered around figuring out the layout of everything there was to do there.  Violet and I found a "rollercoaster" style ride we went on together.  Dave took Calvin down another one.  Violet got to sit right in the front seat of the floaty-boat and I was right behind her.  It was pretty fun!!  We went up, down, around circles, curves, in dark tunnels, got sprayed with water the whole time (which was kindof annoying with my contacts, had to nearly squeeze my eyes shut the whole time), and came to a quick halt at the end of the ride.  Violet was giggling hysterically - amazed at the ride.  She loved it! 

We met up with Dave and Calvin, and found out they had found another ride to go on that was kid appropriate.  We explored many other areas - and found a little slide that the kids could go on alone - but the water was pretty deep so I waited at the bottom to catch them.  Calvin needed catching, Violet did not.  She could touch in the water and insisted on doing EVERYTHING by herself.  She even instructed me to stand away from the end of the slide so I could watch her from afar.  Calvin clung to either Dave or I in any deep water - he was a bit more fearful.

We moved on to more slides the kids would enjoy.  We found one (yellow) that all of us could sit in together and go down. 

The time went quick.  We left at 4:15 pm to go pick up Vanessa.  We got her, came home, and Dave pulled the cake out of the fridge he and the kids had made the night before (I was at a meeting out of the house and went shopping late at night so I wasn't home).  The cake was yellow and frosted with chocolate frosting and coated with M&Ms that said "Maria 30!" on it.   We snapped a few pictures, ate some cake, and then Dave left for an hour with his chainsaw to help with a bunch of guys from BBC to help a lady that had a huge tree fall on her property.  He came back with in the hour.  He asked Noelle to babysit also, which was a surprise to me!  He took me out on a date - and it was such a beautiful night that we found a restaurant on Main St. and ate our meal outside.  Los Cabos makes good mexican food so we went there.  We walked around Main St. for awhile, then decided to walk down by the river.  We sat there for awhile, then decided going to Four Queens would wrap up the night well - I got a turtle sundae and Dave got a banana split.

Overall, it was a GREAT day.  I felt very loved, adored, and I counted my blessings. 

Dave pulled off another little surprise - and invited my grandma Rowena, my brother Jay, and my dad to come over on Friday night for a family birthday celebration for me.  He told me about it on Thursday night.  My grandma brought burgers, cheese slices, and a delicious coconut cake.  My dad brought buns for the burgers, fresh peas from his garden, and Dave whipped up a macaroni salad.  The only mishap of the night was the first batch of noodles for the macaroni salad had to be thrown away, because Dave found shards of glass in the noodles.  He had poured the cooked macaroni into a decorative bowl that we rarely use, and sweeping the edge of the rim of the bowl he found glass chipping off.  He was frustrated, but made a quick run to the store to get more noodles and other ingredients for the salad.  He pulled it off and made another batch quickly.  Dinner was great!  Having family there was really nice too.  We walked outside and talked in the gazebo, and finished the night by using the new piano instrument we got to play some songs and we danced the night away.  Jay left the same night to go back home.  My grandma was dancing with Calvin in his pajamas, and others paired up.  The following morning I was surprised to find out I had woken up BEFORE my grandma Rowena.  She got to sleep in and get a full night's rest in the dark guest room.  She said she can't even remember the last time she slept in.  She ate oatmeal with blueberries and walnuts for breakfast with the kids (they ate oatmeal too), and Dave cooked up another yummy breakfast - eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, and fresh squeeze orange juice.  My dad left, and my grandma and I headed out for a little fabric shopping.  I did not have a project in mind to work on, so I helped her pick out three fabrics that coordinated and will go on the alter at her church.  She wanted to look for water shoes but didn't find any she liked at Scheels.  We came back home, loaded up her stuff, and she took off.

Fun moments occured, sweet memories resulted. 

I love my family!  Thank you Lord. :)