The Big 3-0

So yesterday I turned 30. It's so horrible being old...

NOT!

I had the best birthday ever.

I was woken up with a breakfast in bed consisting of chocolate covered strawberries, brie, crackers and yet more chocolate followed closely by coffee. Avalon helped me devour this bounty while Elsa 'looked'. 'Me look' means she puts her nose two centimeters from the food without touching it.

We spent a nice quiet morning lounging around the house before heading over to Carolyn and Ernie's where we were supposed to stop by for a slice of cake. There was cake. And all our friends, all our kids friends plus video chat with my parents, best friend from grade school and sister. I was surprised. Not only were all my friends and family in AK at the party, but friends and family from AZ and TX thanks to technology.

The cake was a gigantic picture of me when I was six years old, missing the same front tooth as Elsa.

I opened some scrumptious wine and a card that I had to read 5 times before it sunk in. Carolyn and Ernie were not only going to keep the girls at their house overnight, but they had booked us a room at the Hotel Captain Cook, the swanky downtown hotel.

While sitting at dinner with Pat at a fancy restaurant downtown looking out at the bay and the amazing frosted trees (the look that is only achieved when ice fog rolls over them and then out again and the temperature stays just right for the frost to remain) I realized that one could not have a better day.

Since we had a perfectly empty (and quiet, did I mention quiet?) house waiting for us, we changed our hotel reservation until next week so we could take the kids with us to play in the pool, to see the gingerbread town and maybe take a horse-drawn carriage through downtown.

December is just one big celebration! Thanks to everyone for making it so special.

PS: We have pictures of the trees and the party, I just need to download them. They will be in a different post.