Author: Rob and Renna

Adi turned 4!

Adi wanted two things for her birthday. The first is that she wanted us to paint her room. So we painted (rather are in the middle of painting) her bedroom. “Before” pictures are below.

The second is to have the same cake as Vella that she described as: “the one I dropped on the floor.” So she helped make and decorate her birthday cake-forgot to take a photo though! Trust me, it was not only beautiful but also delicious!

Although we celebrated as a family on Sunday, we still wanted to do something fun on her actual birthday. So we played hooky from school, deciding to spend the day at the Museum of Discovery!

Adi (and we all) very much enjoy the Museum of Discovery. Excitedly we all finished our morning routines in record time, piled into the van and headed out. Feeling a bit tourist-y and quite trendy parking in the River Market parking garage (can you tell I’m from the country?), we found our way to the Museum’s entrance. When Reed pulled the doors, they were locked. I failed to remember that the Museum is closed Mondays-boo! Adi’s words to this were: “That’s okay, Mom, I’m not mad.”

Reminiscent of Reed’s birthday last July (read about that here) we walked down the block to Kilwin’s to get ice cream. It was closed too. Fighting off disappointment and frustration, we headed to the downtown library knowing that the books would cheer us up.

Since there were no programs for children that day, we got to talking to the librarian about our morning and she suggested we visit the Clinton Library just a half mile away . The older two kids and I had been to the Clinton Library before but I wasn’t certain it would be fitting for Adi’s birthday outing.

Agreeing to visit the Museum of Discovery later in the week, we decided to give the Clinton Library a chance. Their current display involves large, moving dinosaurs. Walking through the exhibit and holding my hand, Adi kept reminding herself: “It isn’t real, it doesn’t want to eat me. It isn’t real, it doesn’t want to eat me.” I forgot to take any pictures of the actual dinosaurs, but I  managed to get photos of bones, hmmm.

From there we spent time at the Library’s restaurant Forty-Two sharing a dessert. I might be the only one, but I think the dessert we had there (something with lemon and ginger) beat the ice cream by a long shot!

Next we took the shuttle (a golf cart really) down the road to the Clinton Museum Store. Adi squealed with delight with the wind blowing her hair, holding on tightly as the driver whisked us around corners. It was fun!

Adi captivated the store clerks’ attention while we were there and walked out with pictures of “Buddy” and “Socks”-I’m probably supposed to know this but I think that was the Clinton’s pets names while they were living in the White House.

The only thing that would have made it better for Adi would be if Rob had been able to take some time off work to join us. But she did call him on the way home to regal him with her adventures!

Anyway, that was our adventurous day. I’m not sure how much of it Adi will remember over time so I’m blogging it for her to read later.