Anda's Birthday

Anda is lucky number 7! And she shared that luck with the rest of us for her birthday this year.

I wasn't home from California yet, so Dan handled the birthday pancakes with great success.

Then she opened presents when I got back.

She finally got her bike, after staring longingly at Lilah's for a month.

But that wasn't even the best part! The whole family needed a vacation and what better excuse than a birthday? So we packed up the kids and spent three days at the Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte.

Since I'd been out of town, we ordered her a cake from Baskin Robbins that we would pick up on the way to Great Wolf. Dan planned ahead with plates and forks. But neither of us planned ahead with candles, matches, or even a knife to cut the cake. It was a little Benny Hill-esque with me getting the enormous sword knife from the Baskin Robbins manager and Dan running to the gas station next door to buy a lighter for the candles we bought there, but we got it done.

Then we headed to the Great Wolf Lodge itself. No exaggeration: this may have been the most fun we've had as a family to date. They had everything!

Themed rooms;

 Indoor water Park:

 Build-a-trademarked-animal:

 Ice cream:

 Arcade:

 Candy:

And last but far from least, MagiQuest:

Many tears were shed when we informed them that we were not living there now and that we would need to go home at some point. Even after we'd been home for two weeks, Anda told me she was sad that we weren't there anymore and I looked in the rear view mirror to see her putting on a brave face with tears streaming down her cheeks. I'd say that was a pretty successful trip.

Happy birthday, Anda! Thanks for letting us all share in your lucky 7 birthday celebrations!