thirty-four...

...is looking good so far! I seriously had a fantastic birthday! FAN-TAS-TIC, I tell you! It started with a surprise visit from Brad -- he was supposed to be working all-day-long. He left at 3:30am, but at 6:00am he returned home for a few hours! What a treat! I quickly convinced Mom to snap a family picture, because it was my birthday and I knew I could use that as leverage to get everyone on board (I am the only one that actually likes family pictures... why is that?) I think we got a pretty good one!
Then Yaya, the boys, and I headed out to Callaway Gardens. We didn't know exactly what to expect...but I am certain that it exceeded all of our expectations!
It was beautiful...tons of flowers all over the place!
And there was a butterfly center (it was a bit steamy in there). This one liked Wilson's hair...
This is at the vegetable garden... this picture doesn't quite capture it all - it was HUGE!
This was the backyard habitat... Walker is quietly approaching a squirrel...
I couldn't resist taking the boys' picture in front of the "Birds of Prey" wingspan sign...
... cuties. The "Birds of Prey" show was quite good too... mom's shoulder got brushed by a hawk, and I had to duck as an owl flew inches over my head! yikes!
Here are the boys looking into a stream...
oh, and this butterfly loved the bracelet mom made me...it was trying to get nectar from one of the beads!
oh... and this is just a bonus shot of my new shoes. I didn't wear them on my birthday... I had to wear red, white & blue for PWOC on Thursday, so I found these cuties at TJMaxx. They make me smile... a lot. (Brad mentioned something about a tornado when he saw them =)... )
After the gardens, we came home and had dinner. Yaya and the boys made me Triple Chocolate Fudge cupcakes, with Triple Chocolate Fudge Chip frosting. Then we did some late-night star-gazing before bed. It was a great day!