A lovely birthday

[dreamshark]

Day was off to a good start when I got up to find a nice clean kitchen despite the game party the night before, so I didn't have to clean up before making myself a delicious yet healthy birthday breakfast. My son gave me a perfect present (socks! I never get tired of nice socks) AND helped me clean the bathroom. My daughter called and we had a lovely chat while Richard drove to Hyland Park where we'd decided to have a little outing. We came  home and showered, then hopped on our bikes again for the short trip to King's Cafe for my birthday dinner. Then we came home and watched an episode of True Blood for a nice, um, romantic ending to the day.

Sorry about the huge white space in front of the pictures. I've been using the LJ gallery tool for posting pics to journal, and that's what it does.

	Birthday Breakfast Buckwheat banana pancakes with mandarin oranges and almonds.
	We visited Richardson Nature Center in Hyland Park Their new building has to be seen to be believed. It's gorgeous! The walls are covered with 3D nature scenes with life-size native birds suspended from the ceiling.
	Richardson nature center - the woodland wall Taken up close to capture the 3D-ness of it all
	Sharon by the prairie wall
	Painted turtle in the wild From the paths at Richardson Nature Center.
	Richardson Nature Center trail That's the Buck Hill ski jump thing in the background, not an alien spaceship. After our little hike we biked around most of the trail system. Only 6 miles, but hillier than I remembered. Really pretty, but we were puffing a little on the long uphill back to the van.
	Finished up by biking 7 blocks for a birthday dinner King's Cafe, 46th and Grand, the newest entry in the crowded field of local bistros. This one bills itself as a "wine bar" but has a small selection of tasty appetizer plates, spinach salads with fancy doodads and that sort of thing. More than enough to make a nice meal.

Comments

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Cool! Happy belated birthday.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Wow... that painted turtle is so realistic!

K.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I could swear it was real!