Let's Celebrate Brant!!

Birthdays, in this household, are a very big deal. We don't mess around; its serious business to celebrate someone's special day, which calls for some serious partying and serious fun!!! We had a few very eventful days this past weekend, as we welcomed Dale and Martha into town to celebrate Brant's 29th birthday with us!!

We picked up our special guests, late morning on Saturday (Brant's birthday), and immediately took them up to Griffith Park. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a cafe called "The Trails", located at the base of the park. After lunch, we drove up the hill to The Observatory, where we walked around the grounds, taking pictures, looking at various exhibits and watching Maddie "ham it up" with everyone around her (seriously, this girl loves the spotlight!).
That evening, we had a wonderful birthday celebration at home, filled with dinner, gifts, dessert and a movie. Nice! Among the gifts Brant received this year, I think Maddie's gift to him was the biggest hit...Maddie made a very nice card for her Daddy, in which the only adult help consisted of the written letters. The picture below doesn't show it too well, but Maddie colored all over the card with pretty colors (very faintly; we're still learning how it all works :) ).
She gave him a new set of stereo speakers, as the old ones died on us a few months ago. What a good daughter! Can you guess what we did the next day? You betcha! Disneyland!!
Brant, pretty happy to be celebrating his birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth!!
I love this picture. Look how happy all three of them are to be flying with Dumbo!Although you cannot see the full-scope of this amazing costume, you can see enough to understand what Maddie is going to be for Halloween this year......and most of her hundred-acre-woods friends were thrilled to see her there! (We will come back to get a picture with Pooh, who wasn't out, on our next visit). I wish I would have been able to take a series of pictures of the crowds surrounding her as she literally ran down the walk way in her piglet costume. We put her in it right before these pictures, and she was giddy with excitement. People were stopping right and left commenting and looking at the "cute little piglet" running down the way! (There is no piglet character at Disneyland, so she was a big hit!)

After her big "Piglet Debut", Maddie crashed. She was letting all of us know how exhausted she was, so she took a nice snooze in the stroller......all the while, Brant and Martha were doing this (the last two loggers)...Brant and I are used to riding everything by ourselves, since Maddie cannot go on the big rides. It was fun being at Disneyland with other people, as we were able to thoroughly enjoy the big rides with someone else.

Grandma and Grandpa joined Maddie's style, and found some ears that fit them well. Our sweet little girl is no longer a baby.And she's cuter than ever!My birthday man! I loved spoiling him with attention and fun this weekend!! How cute are they, all matchy-matchy?! :)What a fun day we had, and a terrific weekend! Thanks for visiting us, Dale and Martha, spending quality time with Maddie Mae and helping us celebrate Brant in grand style. :) We love you!