Happy Birthday, Part 2 3

Part two of Peeper's birthday celebration happened last night, when she went to hang out with Eena and Papa for a few hours, while Mama and Mommy went out to dinner and ran some errands.

We thought she was just going over for a typical visit, but evidently they had quite a little party - she came home with balloons, and new clothes, and tales of ice cream and candles!

We also hear rumors of a stuffed horse, big enough to sit on, that lives at their house now. I can't wait to check that out when we're over there for trick-or-treating on Monday!

Today, we had our own little family celebration, just for the three of us.

Shrike is on an early day shift this week, so we were able to actually go out to dinner, rather than grabbing a quick lunch before she has to go in, which was nice.

First we went to Red Robin, where there was singing and ice cream, and she ate about half a (big!) bowl of macaroni and cheese, with is a lot of food for her. I guess three year olds need to eat more.

When we got home, she opened her gifts from Mommy and Mama. It really wasn't as much as it kind of looks like here, or at least not as much money as you might think. There were several things that we'd bought quite a while back, including lots of Halloween things that we got on clearance last November. Also some dollar aisle things and a couple of necessities.

But she doesn't know any of that . She just saw a big pile of gifts, with cool stuff inside.

These duckies were clearance items. The Nutcracker book was a buck, and will better prepare her for the Candlelight Nutcracker performance which is in a couple of weeks. (It's ridiculously early this year.)

As luck would have it, I saw this hat and mitten set the other night while she was napping in the cart, so I was able to try it on and buy it without her knowing. I'm not sure she realizes that it's supposed to actually keep her warm this winter; I heard her referring to it as a "costume."

"Scientist" set for a buck! Microscope, flasks, bottles, droppers, magnifying glass, "smart" glasses, forceps, scissors (all non-working and very fakey, of course) - all for a buck! She doesn't quite "get" the microscope, though. She keeps using it to pour things.

Monkey panties!

Other gifts that I didn't get photos of include a Halloween (clearance) Mr. Potato Head, The Very Hugry Caterpillar matching game, and a bag of Halloweeny cheapo things.