A Big Birthday in the Books

Gabby's birthday began with breakfast, as birthdays often do. She spent the evening before baking strawberry cream cheese filled bran muffins, my Aunt C's special recipe. To that tasty treat we added some bacon and eggs and called it brunch. The boys returned bleary-eyed and barely awake from a "sleepover" at which the storms of the night kept them awake (I'm sure video games with their buddies had nothing to do with it ;)

At the appropriate time, the boys awoke from their attempted slumber. Brennen got himself ready for work, and G$ got himself ready for battle. Ha, just kidding! I did tell him ahead of time, "Now, the place we are going is a surprise to Gabby for her birthday. I felt the need to let you know now, because it involves cats. You and cats haven't been the best of friends in the past." To which he more-or-less replied, "Yeah, they attack me. But Gabby will LOVE that. I'm in."

And so we pulled into the parking lot of a legit, true cat cafe! Gabby was happily shocked, "I didn't think these were real!" I was so happy we were able to find such a place within driving distance for her! We ordered really tasty coffees, chai, hot chocolate, and tea (that was a recommendation from the barista--G$ maybe would have gone another route :) and prepared for our 30 minutes of kitten "cuddle time."

All the cats at this shop are up for adoption, and our small entrance fee goes toward their upkeep, shots, and vet bills while they await their new homes. Because it was windy that day, the five kittens weren't able to make a public appearance at another local event, so we ended up with nine cats and kittens to play with. That might not sound like a lot, but when they are popping out of beds and holes and wrestling across shelves and window ledges, it sure feels like a lot going on! Especially for Graysen, who was a bit leery of the cats staring at him from atop their perches. He was ready for cuddle time to conclude a little sooner than the rest of us ;)

Never has a half hour flown by so quickly! The cafe was packed with the next round of cat friends ready to come in and take our spot with the kitties. But that was okay, because we had another very Gabby plan up next. Although it has been around for decades, for her special day we discovered a three-story warehouse full of artists of every imaginable ability--glass blowing, metal working, pottery, pastel painting, photography, jewelry, instrument-making, print art, woodworking, candle-making, engraving, etc. etc. Not only that, but it was an open house, so allllll the artists were present, giving demonstrations, answering questions, selling beautiful things, and passing out snacks!

We could have stayed for absolute hours, and we did wander for quite some time. However, Mr. $ had a job interview at mid-afternoon, so we headed home to get him ready for that.

Brennen was just arriving home from his time at work when Noah showed up at our door. The girls and the boys headed to the mall for some fun graduation clothes shopping, and Noah trying on hats :) They also got boba tea (even though Brennen could barely keep his eyes open). Gabby found a super pretty dress for her upcoming party, and I'd say from the stories I heard, this mall time was a highlight of her day (Brennen's filter was down given his lack of slumber and I guess he's pretty funny when he's not thinking straight :)

The kids met us at the Mexican restaurant for supper, Gabby's request. If you look closely, you'll see Buck's friend, Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, photobombed our birthday dinner pic ;)

While the teens were on their shopping excursion, Buck spent his time making Gabby's request of lemon bars. She sent the Sally's Baking Addiction link to us, and Buck's eyes got bigger and bigger as he read all the steps, ha! Sally is quite the gal. But he pulled off the sweets swimmingly, and we were *POW* in the mouth with each bite. Also, the birthday song ended with an unexpected cloud of powdered sugar as Gabby blew out her (some very tiny because I didn't have enough so I cut one in half) birthday candles. Another funny story is, we had JUST gotten them all lit when her grandma called from Cali, so Gabby took the call and Caelan blew out the first round of candles, ha!

Next up, gift opening! Caelan got up to feed Muri and when she came back Graysen was in her spot next to Noah on the couch. She said, "That's my spot!" and Graysen grinned and jokingly put his arm around Noah. Caelan said, "That's MY boyfriend!" We were all cracking up (and Caelan did get her spot back :)

Gabby received art supplies and shoes, a sunflower hoodie from C, a sunflower fidget ring from B, and funny t-shirts from G$ and Grandma J. Noah sent her a meme of Betty White dabbing that says, "Welcome to the old people's club." She thought that was pretty great, too :) Overall, I'd say Gabby had a good day! We were so happy to celebrate her and to show her some love 💗Exciting times ahead for Doodles!