Happy Birthday Memaw!

For Memaw's birthday, we had it all planned out--presents, dinner, cake--well, it did all happen, just not all in the same day...

We had wrapped the gift and left it in the kitchen about a week ahead of time, to keep prying eyes clear, but it also tormented Amara to the point that when Mom popped in the day before her birthday, she went and got the gift, exclaimed "Happy Birthday Memaw!" and gave it to her.  She'd picked it up a dozen times before, and each time we told her "it's for Memaw's birthday..." so she clearly knew--and I guess in that moment, she decided she'd waited long enough. 

Since that was Saturday, we had our lunch on Sunday at Sogo, as planned.  It was relatively empty (good for us) and she was patient (as a 2 yr old can be) and actually ate really well.  Chicken fried rice, potstickers, and Sesamie Chicken were among her favorites...until dessert...

...the staff (kindly) brought mom some green tea ice cream with grasshopper oreo's in the dish, which Amara went straight for.  After a bit, she even started dipping the cookies in the ice cream and really enjoying herself.

See, during the wait (and meal, frankly) she had made friendly with the Sushi chef, our waiter, Van, and a few other folks in the restaurant.  At one moment, I counted 4 employees all doting on her and chasing her up and down the booth she took residence in, and they were all enjoying it.  That truly made our visit manageable, as we do love the food, but they aren't the quickest--making it less than idea for Amara.  BUT after her new found friends, I'm sure we can make it back in there--maybe just call ahead and order :)

After dinner, we headed home for cake.  Since Amara had insisted on giving it to Memaw BEFORE dinner, and they had already lit and extinguished candles, etc. (and because we were all STUFFED and had already had ice cream) it wasn't a loss to delay it.  Mom cut us a few pieces and took the rest home to have with the boys (who had their own Japanese Steakhouse celebration with her the night before).

We played outside for a little, before it got chilly, and headed inside to watch the letter show (an Alphabet based Leapfrog DVD from friends, which she LOVES) and unwind.