I didn't forget

July is a "big" birthday month. Only in that it's the only month where two members of the zoo have a birthday. I know in the past I was really good about blogging about any one persons birthday on the actual day. This year I let it slide. I could chalk it up to my *old* age. Especially since this month includes my birthday and I can now offically claim to be in my mid-thirties. I'll be here for the next 5 years before I can move my status up to late thirties.

My birthday (15th) was quite the day as it included a lot of planned driving. Yeah, I do occasionally PLAN pure craziness into my life. I hit the road early with 2 of my girls and a friend & her girls. We drove to the next town over & picked up 3 more girls to drive them to Moline. Once in Moline I dropped off the 4 of the girls to attend dance camp for the day. We got right back on the road & headed to Coralville. We snagged 30 minutes of shopping (and good sales) at Kohls before we loaded back up to head to North Liberty. There we met someone who gave us a trumpet for Mandy (see post below). After that brief encounter we headed to lunch at one of my favorite places to eat, Olive Garden. We took our time & enjoyed some girl time complete with the OG staff singing me some cheesy birthday song and presenting me with a birthday treat. AND it really was a treat because Andes thin mints are one of my all time favorite pieces of candy.
Just as we were ready to hit the road I met up with another friend who had driven over from the DesMoines area to bring me 2 of her kids. Anna & Ellie came to stay the week with us. (What's a few more animals at the zoo anyway?) We left with just enough time to get back to Moline to pick up the dancers & transport them home. But not without a stop at the mall & McDonald's. Phew, so about 300 or so miles logged within 8 hours made for a long day. The rest of the day was quiet. I was surprised the next day when Angel (on behalf of the kids) baked me a birthday cake completely from scratch, even the frosting.
Come on, you do see all those wrinkles on my face, don't you?!?! And look, the candles completely surround my cake. Time to start filling in the middle!

Mandy's birthday was also this month (23rd). Since she was at church camp for the week we did not get to see her on her birthday. That is a first for us & a bit weird feeling too. I did my best to make her day special & arranged for some cupcakes to be delivered to the camp for her to share with her cabin.
I also sent along her presents & cards that she received in the mail that week while she was gone. Once she was home a few days later we had a small gathering of friends & famiy to celebrate some more.