A Day of Birthdays

Today was a jam-packed day of birthday festivities for Alexa and myself, as we attended two birthday parties.  This morning, Alexa and her cousin Luke attended a four year-old's birthday party at her favorite birthday party spot - Pump It Up.  For 90 minutes, Alexa bounced, slid and hopped around on the inflatable slides and bounce houses....a kid's dream come true.  I was exhausted watching her, and after a late bedtime and early wake-up this morning, I figured she would be ready for a nap.  No such luck.  She and Luke continued to play until it was time to head to tonight's festivities - a birthday dinner for Nana Hovey at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

It was the perfect restaurant for a large party with three kids and two babies - it was nice and loud, and it didn't matter if a spoon or food hit the floor.  Perfect!  Alexa and Luke were both pretty worn out from their very long day, but they hung in there, and we had a really enjoyable dinner.  The promise of birthday cake after a meal has a pretty amazing effect - Alexa wanted to ensure her behavior didn't jeopardize her chance of having a slice of cake.  When it was finally time for dessert, Nana Hovey had a lot of help blowing out her candles, and the smile on her face was a clear indicator of how happy she was to have the whole family together.

In the fifteen-plus years I have known Damon, the two of us have never been to an Old Spaghetti Factory; in fact, I don't think I've ever heard him mention it.  However, today I found out this was one of Damon's favorite restaurants when he was younger.  Who knew?  On the way to dinner, he informed me the linguine with clam sauce was his favorite dish there, and I had to smile when Damon, his dad and both of Damon's siblings ordered the exact same entree for dinner.  I have a feeling we might need to find an Old Spaghetti Factory in Arizona so Damon can get his fix more frequently than once every fifteen years.... :)

Hanging with Cousin Luke at Pump It Up.

Happy Birthday, Nana Hovey!