Maria’s Big Day

Sarah and I decided to again take Maria’s birthday off from work to have a family day together.  We began our day at Pump It Up in Lynnwood.  It’s one of those inflatable toy play arenas.  Since it was the middle of the week…it was pretty empty, maybe 5 kids other then Maria…which was great because it allowed Maria to be able to play on toys without being trampled.  I can’t imagine how that place is on weekends…probably not very fun for kids Maria’s size.  Maria was so brave…by the end of our session, she was doing the big slides all by herself…and LOVING it.

Next, we were on to Dim Sum for a little lunch before nap time.  We had recently read about a place in Mill Creek that was called the best Dim Sum in the Seattle area.  Hmmm.  Zen Garden is about 2 blocks from Sarah’s old apartment complex.  We’ve driven past it thousands of times…it’s a non-descript, boring building.  It never seemed to have crowds…so we never bothered checking it out.  Once we were inside, we were amazed.  First, the “backyard” of the restaurant was amazing…a well manicured garden with a sizable fish pond.  Second, and more importantly…some amazing Dim Sum.  Like places in Vancouver, they give you a menu (with pictures) and make the items up fresh for you.  This was great because when we arrived, we were the only ones there.  We went a little overboard in our ordering…but we wanted to give them a good test run.  Everything was great!

After returning home and napping…it was present time!  Maria has definitely figured out presents…and she LOVES them.  In addition to her slide and basketball hoop, we also got her a customized chair, a play house for the back yard and a tricycle.  We had already given her the slide and hoop…so when she woke up, she got to see her new chair for the first time…she loved it!  We haven’t given shown her the house or tricycle yet…mainly because it’s been so rainy outside.  I’m sure we’ll have both set up and ready to go before our next sunny day.  Maria also enjoyed opening the many nice cards and gifts that were sent from family…and even our neighbor. 

Finally, after cleaning the house up a bit…it was time to head out to meet Grandma and Grandpa for an early birthday dinner at Anthony’s Beach Cafe in Edmonds.  Maria loves it there because they have a large sandbox with lots of sand toys to play with.  Thankfully there was a brief sun break that kept Maria and Mom warm while playing before our food arrived.  Once the food was on the table, Maria enjoyed doing her usual rotation between everyone to check out the food they had.  To end the meal, a birthday sundae. 

Sadly…that was the end of our family birthday celebration together as I had to run down to SeaTac to catch a flight out to Boise for a couple days of work meetings.

Today is the final day of “Birthday Week” and we’re ending with a small gathering of some of Maria’s friends…should be fun.  I’m sure I’ll have more to post later.