the essence

Birthday Fun

Yesterday we celebrated Ray's big 3-5 - that's right, he's now officially halfway to 40! I truly love that when Ray chose what he wanted to do for his birthday it was to spend time together as a family. I'm also glad that it was his idea to spend some of that family time at IKEA!

Addison was incredibly excited to help me make Ray's "cake." (The chocolate raspberry torte I make him every year)



I drooled over the rooms at IKEA, as I do every time. I love when new ones are added. This is one of the newer additions to our IKEA - how much would I love to have a closet like this?!?



Cool light, huh?



Addison loved the cowhide & told me it was soft like a kitty! I tried not to think about how dirty it was from people walking all over it!



We always must stop for the girls to play with all of the kids toys they have out. The tents, train & slide are a big hit!



We ate lunch in the cafe Hot dogs, chips, soda & frozen yogurt!





After IKEA Ray wanted to go downtown to the splash park for the girls to play. He also drove us by the building he's working in now. He's not joking when he describes it as a concrete bunker.






University of Tampa was right behind the splash park - it's such a pretty place!



It took Kate a little while to warm up to playing in the fountain. She still had fun running around the grass!



Clay's favorite thing to do is sleep. I have a feeling this will change soon.



This was across the street from the splash park. I love being in the city!



We were out much later than I thought we'd be so we nixed the fried chicken dinner I was going to make Ray for his birthday. Instead we stopped by Publix on the way home &, for the first time in years, I bought pizza dough. I usually make my own now. Not because of some homemade Martha Stewart complex but rather because when I decide I want pizza dough I find it easier to make my own rather than drive to the store. I was flattered when, during dinner, Ray commented that he thinks my homemade dough tastes better.

After dinner we served his torte. I made no effort for it to be aesthetically pleasing this year (sorry honey!) but it still tasted quite good! Ray tried to get the girls to help him blow out the candles; Addison had fun doing so but Kate seemed a little scared of them (can you tell from the picture?)



What a fun & busy day! after putting the kids to bed we settled in to watch a movie but ended up watching The Office instead - loved the intro! Ray had to work 10-midnight & I was fast asleep on the couch by the time he finished work.