Claire turns 9!

Claire Bea, my only granddaughter, turned 9 a few days ago.  To celebrate, Claire and her friend, Bella, Bella's mom Anabel, Katie, and I traveled down to Hollywood on Saturday to have lunch and shop at The American Girl store.  We had so much fun!  Katie's GPS guided us on our journey to the shopping area called "The Grove".  Anabel commented "It's Disneyland for adults!" -- meaning the main shopping area looked like main street at Disneyland, only with a variety of high end stores.  There was piped music, flowers, statues, beautiful buildings, no cars, etc. and the weather was absolutely perfect.  We parked in a parking garage and had no trouble finding The American Girl store.  I think I was as excited as the two birthday girls. Bella's birthday is a week after Claire's so this was her celebration too. 

The girls got to each pick out a "just like me" doll.  There were quite a few to choose from with many combinations of hair, skin color, eye color, etc.  They also got matching souvenior T-shirts and doll outfits that could only be purchased at The American Girl store. 

We went upstairs to check in for our lunch, and we oo'd and aw'd at all the mini stores for all the historical dolls we passed on the way.  Wow! 

The American Girl Cafe was the cutest place ever.  The color scheme was hot pink, black and white.  The tables were decorated beautifully -- there were cloth napkins with hair bows they could keep, for napkin rings.  They provided a "sweet seat" for the girls' dolls. We were served pink lemonade and mini cinnamon rolls soon after we were seated.  There were little black and white boxes with papers printed with conversation questions on them.  The menus were pink and had a variety of choices for our entree.

Next we were served a plate with fruit skewers, crudites and dip, and crostinis and bruchetta for our appetizer.  Yum!  We all placed our entree orders and the girls thought about names for their dolls. 

The girls and I  had "bity hamburgers and hotdogs" with curly fries.

  The waitress brought out tiny little black and white cups and saucers for the dolls -- so cute.

For dessert we were served a plate with a little frosted star cookie, a cup of chocolate mousse,  and a little heart shaped piece of cake.

Claire and Bella both had candles in their cakes to blow out while Happy Birthday was sung to them.

 What a fun time we all had.

 I'm sure the girls will never forget their 9th birthday celebration at The American Girl Store!!  I know I will always enjoy the memories.
Oh, and on the way home we made a stop at the Burbank IKEA store -- that is always fun.

Barry Turns 62!

Yesterday was Barry's birthday. We drove up to Reedley and met two of his brothers and their families for a late lunch at the Main Street Cafe. Of course our three daughters, son-in-laws and grandchildren were there too! 18 total (Farmer counted). Maybe I should introduce my family so when I refer to someone you know who I am talking about. Barry is my wonderful husband of 36 years. We have three grown daughters -- Katie is the oldest. She has been married to Edward for 10 years and they have 4 beautiful children -- my grandchildren. Claire is the only girl -- she is almost 9; Bauer is almost 7; Farmer is almost 5 and Archer is 10 months. Annie is our middle child -- she is the fun stuff in the middle! She is a 3rd grade teacher and lives about an hour from here. Betsy is our youngest and has been married for 2 years to Primo. They have one child -- my youngest grandson -- Caleb -- he is so cute!

So back to Barry's birthday. After a yummy lunch (they have verenika, zweibach and german sausage on the menu) we went to Phil and Rosemarie's for dessert. Here is where I have to post a few pictures of the desserts Rosemarie picked up from Eddie's Bakery in Fresno. I've never been there but I think I would love it!

Berry Coffee Cake

Lemon Tart


Chocolate Chiffon -- That's the birthday boy!


Farmer thought Grandpa needed some help blowing out his candles!
A birthday in the family is a BLESSING. Being able to share it with your family is a double BLESSING!