Adventures in T-Town

We traveled to BA this weekend to celebrate Ryan and Toni's birthdays. They are 3 years and 3 days apart so we always do a joint celebration with them. They hadn't planned on doing anything so when Jared suggested a group dinner I was excited. So to the turnpike we went!

We drove in Friday night and it was the worst drive so far for Jackson. He usually loves car rides and will sleep the entire drive to and from Tulsa. Not so much this time. We got to the toll booth and he woke up. He sat there for a while without making a peep. Then all of a sudden he had a major meltdown. He was screaming louder than I've ever heard him scream before. I sat in the back with him until we finally made it to an exit so I could feed him. Poor guy, he was SO upset and I couldn't do anything to help him. (luckily the return trip went far better as he slept the entire way home)

First thing Saturday morning we went to visit with Oma and Great Aunt Jan. We enjoyed a yummy cinnamon ring and applesauce for breakfast. Jackson got a little fussy so I went to the other room to feed him while everyone else finished eating. He fell asleep shortly after and cuddled with Oma for a while. It was really sweet.

As soon as he woke up, I put him on his blanket with all of his toys so they could watch him play. He had such a fun time. Aunt Jan even got down on the floor with him. He wasn't cooperating in the 'smile for the camera' department! He enjoyed showing everyone his new trick of spitting his abundant drool in the air. He even rolled over a time or two.

After we played for a while Oma had some friends over to play bridge. They just thought Jackson was the cutest! He even got to play a hand with Oma! We had a wonderful time hanging out and look forward to Oma and Great Aunt Jan visiting us in Edmond at the end of March.

Later that evening we dropped off Jackson with Nana, who was more than happy to watch him for the evening, and headed to dinner with our great group of friends. Jared had suggested we go to Yakiniku MaMa, a little Japanese restaurant in East BA, so I made a reservation so they would be prepared for our large group...we had 15 total! We would have had 17 but Tommy and Jessi sadly couldn't make it because poor Collin had bronchitis.  The owners were great; Gary tended to our every need and Soya was working hard in the kitchen and kept the food coming.

We had such a great time. The food was really good and it seemed to keep coming...edamame, soup, salad, finally Mochiko chicken with taters and sticky rice. I also tried sake for the first time. Whoa! What a strange substance that is!! I knew it was Japanese rice wine but I didn't know it would be warm or taste a lot like rubbing alcohol (not that I know what rubbing alcohol tastes like, but I can imagine!). It was like vapor in my mouth. I knew something was there, I just couldn't tell you how full my mouth was! It was really weird. The first shot wasn't bad but subsequent shots got worse and worse. I had three and a half total and that was more than enough! I'm glad I can say I tried it though.

As a surprise, I wanted to get a cake for Ryan and Toni. Kylie helped me nail down the details and said she would place the order with Ms. Laura (family friend that did her wedding cake...yum). We decided on Vanilla Bean with White Chocolate Ganache and butter cream icing, same as R&Ts' wedding cake. I had to be sneaky and ask Toni what her cake was so we'd get it right. I had suggested using their blog logo and Kylie took it a step further and had them use the banner and replace "Peas in a Pod" with "Happy Birthday". It was brilliant and it turned out great. Ryan and Toni were so surprised. The cake was SO good so I had an extra piece, you know, for Jackson! (p.s. Ryan is 29 and Toni is 26, just wanted to get that straight!!)

We all had such a great time. I seriously have the best group of friends anyone could ask for. They all mean so much to me and life wouldn't be the same without them.