My Birthday

My birthday was at the end of July. The kids' birthdays bother me because they're getting older, but I don't usually mind mine. I'm happy with where my life has lead me to this point, and I get cake. How could there be a problem?

This year my brother took the day off work and joined me, the kids, my mom, & Jack on a visit to the wildlife park. The weather didn't really cooperate with the whole "open-air safari" concept, but it was still a fun trip. There were actually a lot of animals to see if the rain splattering on the side of the bus didn't splash into your eyes and blind you. ;) I didn't bring my camera because I was afraid it would get wet. It was a good thing I didn't. There wasn't a dry spot anywhere - on the bus or on my person - by the time we were done. In fact, there was a river running along the bottom of the bus. It pooled at the back of the bus when we went uphill and ran towards the front when we went down. At some point in the trip I unknowingly dropped my eyeglasses into that river. (After several phone calls, I got them back about a week later. They had big smudges all over the lenses and the case was waterlogged, but thankfully they weren't scratched!) Despite the rain, it was a really fun adventure and a great way to spend my birthday.

Obviously, this is the "before" picture.

Baby rhino

Baby giraffe with his back to us at the far right. I wish I could have used my good camera to get a picture of this little guy. He was only a few weeks old.

"After" picture. We had dried off in the bathrooms a little at this point. Notice we are all still smiling, though.

The four of us enjoyed dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and then stopped by the park to humor mom with a short walk since it had cleared up.

 

We enjoyed a lemon-raspberry Nothing Bundt Cake later that evening. It is a limited time flavor, and I have been looking forward to it since last July. It was just as yummy as I remembered it. Now I have a reason to look forward to my next birthday.