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Pho Robot Cat

 

Today, we met Bella, the robot cat the delivers pho food!  For context, it was a celebration of our friend Ansley's birthday, and she likes this place in Gainesville called "Pure Pho & Grille," which is a Vietnamese restaurant not far away.  I don't remember going to a Vietnamese restaurant, and I don't think Maddie has either, so it was a pretty new experience - neither of us have had pho either.  Although Maddie didn't get pho today - she got Korean barbecue, while I got the pho seafood.  And yes, guess who came by to deliver our food to us!

It was a nice new experience for lunch today.  About seven of us were there having a nice meal for lunch together.  Maddie enjoyed it, and I think Mom will enjoy it if we come back this way.  Note:  the servings were ginormous!

Yes, that's SpongeBob on television behind Maddie.

And yes, behind the bar, that's "The Smurfs" on television.

Emma figures out how to use chopsticks!

BOGO offer on Boba Tea?  Yes please!

Another thing we did today:  The KidPak Coffee Club!  We were joking about starting a coffee club where we try new coffees, and so today I brought in about six K-cups filled with the Bones Coffee flavor Dark Side Truffle - it's a Star Wars theme to it, made sweeter by these Star Wars themed coffee mugs I have there.  That was fun - Joey here says he'll bring some coffee in next time.

It was a quiet day otherwise - I was getting some work done at the office, but Maddie and I got home to see Mom.  We watched a bit of the Braves losing skid today, something that's pretty tough to watch.  At least in the ninth inning we scored a few runs, just falling short though.  Hopefully the team will turn things around, because this week has been one everyone wants to forget.  We're still a good ways ahead, and hopefully we'll be able to keep that lead.

I got my walking in, uphill on the treadmill while watching "The Third Man on the Mountain," and doing that virtual Mt. Everest walk.  This is a shorter walk, but it's been good.

Tonight we read, and after that we prayed.  Time for some sleep!

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... rain-out, sutures out, Third Man on the Mountain, ...

Twenty

Maddie turned twenty today, and this sort of thing would have been a complete surprise except for the fact that she turned nineteen last year and eighteen the year before.  I think it would have been more of a shock if she turned twelve.

Anyway, Nate got here this morning, and we had a little mini-celebration.  Maddie got some cards and presents, and I loved the card Mom and I got - it was a Spider-man card for six-year old with the number six crossed out and the number 20 scribbled in beside it:  

Happy Birthday to a 6 20 Year old!

We sang Happy Birthday and surprised Maddie with a big loaf of sourdough bread, which she loves - one that had two candles stuck in the top, showing the number 20.  We had key lime pie, and a birthday cake flavored ice cream as well.  And then Maddie opened up another one of her gifts, a Spider-man LEGO creation, which should be pretty fun to put together.  It's big!  

But first, it was time to put together the Razor Crest.  Maddie and Nate spent a good bit of time putting that one together, although not as long as they anticipated.  It came out looking really good!  

We had some Margherita pizza, which is now one of Maddie's favorite types of pizza.  We had some on the Disney Fantasy, and before that too.  But now it's been a more consistent choice, particularly because Mom orders that kind of pizza from Factor.  Anyway, they enjoyed some pizza, and then given that the weather was so nice outside, Nate and Maddie went over to the Oaks for some mini-golf.

Maddie had a great time, getting a hole in one on that long, uphill hole towards the end there.  She wound up winning today, but the two of them actually did really well on the course, and the temperature and weather were just perfect outside.  It's been so humid lately, and the rains that came yesterday must have been with some sort of front that brought cooler more pleasant temps outside.  The point is, it was the perfect afternoon for mini-golf.

Afterwards, they were back at Nate's for a bit, working on a puzzle for a long while.  They didn't quite finish, but that's okay!

They also went out for Boba tea and Maddie's favorite place there, and rather than move on, the two of them spent a good bit of time there playing Uno!  Sounds like a really perfect birthday!

Eventually they were back home, of course.  Mom and I were finishing up "Obi-Wan," and starting on "The Clone Wars."  The goal is to watch all the episodes in chronological order, rather than the order they were released.  Purist nerds is what we are!

Maddie had a great birthday weekend.  Yesterday was nice, and today was a really good day too.  We closed it out starting a new book, "Unseen Academicals," a book parodying the popularity of soccer, which is appropriate given that there's a World Cup game here in Georgia today.  It was late - after prayers, we got to sleep tonight, and slept very well.  It was a good birthday!

Feliz CumpleaAos

Maddie's twentieth birthday party was very nice today!  She invited some friends over to Aurelio's in Buford, which is becoming our favorite Mexican restaurant at the moment.  We treated everyone to a fantastic meal.  As you can see, it was a really fun fiesta - Maddie got her street tacos, and she got a few new plush friends for her birthday too.

We started out with the pointy birthday hats, brought by one of her friends.

Meet our new plush capybara friend, courtesy of Chloe.

Ah!  Time for the sombrero and the birthday song, "Feliz Cumpleaños a Ti!"

And a delicious birthday treat!

So earlier, Maddie was at church with us of course.  But she was in the skit doing a big of dancing with us as we revisited the song "Hannah" that we did last year.  It was a country song that tells the story of Hannah from the Bible, and it's a fun one.  We had a great morning at KidPak, and then we had to move quickly when leaving, because it was time to get over for the party! 

The Mexican food is delicious there -  I always try something different, and Mom usually gets the Agave Special.  We're always happy with what we get.  As soon as the meal was over, Mom and I went back home and the group went off to Skate Country.

Afterwards, the group went roller skating nearby, and that was the perfect birthday celebration for Maddie.  She had a really great time this afternoon with friends, just relaxed, laughing, sharing, laughing, falling, laughing, and making great memories together.

Maddie got home a little later - Mom and I were watching the Braves lose again, hopefully not too much of a skid here, but suddenly the bats are quiet.  It wouldn't make our moods bad though, because Maddie had a lot of fun stories to tell, and it was clear she was having a great day.

We read tonight, and we said our prayers - and then it was time for some sleep!