Suzanna's 10th Birthday!

Once upon a time, we had a baby named Suzanna. She was our first child, and when we took her home from the hospital, we laid her on an afghan on the living room floor and sat and stared at her in awe. She began to teach us how to be parents, and she's still teaching us every day . . . now ten years later!

We drove to Fargo yesterday and found that the farther we got from Dickinson (mild temperatures, no snow whatsoever), the more we discovered typical North Dakota winter weather (drifting snow, snow piled up alongside the roads, cold winds, chilly temperatures). We had supper at Olive Garden (the birthday girl's choice, unanimously seconded by the rest of us). We enjoyed some delicious chicken dishes, each stuffed with cheeses and tasty ingredients like spinach and bacon and covered in sauce and served with pasta. Then we did some shopping, hitting stores that we don't have in Dickinson but for which we had received gift cards over Christmas. The girls chose some great books at Barnes & Noble as part of their Christmas gifts from Grandpa and Grandma Moberg, and Suzanna found some snazzy clothes at both Old Navy and Target (where Abigail, Hillary, and I snuck off to buy birthday gifts for Suzanna from them).

We had a room for the night at an "economical" hotel in which the wall-mounted air conditioning unit doubled as a heater with one simple turn of a knob. It did kick out the heat, but it wasn't much for temperature control. In the "on" position, it bellowed out fire and had us all boiling as well as hard of hearing from the noise. In the "off" position, the frigid arctic winds seeped in through the unit and the adjacent window, rapidly negating whatever work the heater had just done for us. Eh bien, we've had it worse.

This morning Suzanna did some gift opening in the hotel room and found among her other gifts . . . the clothing items that she had helped her mom select last night! She also opened, from her sisters, a DVD of Underdog and a set of infant clothes that she can use with a baby doll that she recently bought for herself using a birthday gift card from her aunt and uncle. Suzanna selected Red Lobster for her birthday dinner around 11:00 A.M. On the way into the restaurant, she said, "Wow, it's cold here in North Dakota." Um, dear, we live in North Dakota, too--it's just not cold in our corner of the state. Inside it was warm, and we had a tasty meal with friendly service. (Abigail had her usual crab legs off the children's menu; I had my usual cold meal by the time I was done cracking her crab legs and extricating the meat for her.)

Suzanna is excited about Underdog from her sisters!

Daddy poses with his little beauties.

We did a little more shopping after dinner, including a stop at Hornbacher's for a cake (Suzanna chose a gigantic frosted chocolate chip cookie to which they added her name). Then we were off to Grand Forks for a birthday party at Red Ray Lanes. Our girls were reunited with several friends from the area--and Susan and I with their parents! We visited with Nicole, Rob, Laurie, and Erin while the girls bowled with Emily, Michael, Big Ethan, Little Ethan, McKenna, Hannah, and Gabriel. We visited with A.J. when he dropped off and picked up his kiddos and with Jesse when he left Nicole and the kids behind (but took young Mya with him). Rob and I joined the kids in bowling. Some of the kids requested bumpers in the gutters of our two lanes, so I was able to knock down many more pins than otherwise by banking my ball off the bumpers as in pool or pinball. Bowling with kids is the best!

The cake is really a cookie?! What'll they think of next?

Feeling sassy at age ten!

Afterward we headed to Rob and Laurie's for an impromptu potluck and had a good ol'-fashioned couples-with-kids game night! The kids seemed to have a good time, and I know the adults surely did. It's great how things just fall into place when we get back together with the gang; it feels as though we haven't been away at all! We even have something new to tease Rob about: DUN-duh-duh-DUN! It's Devil's Advocate! or Captain Contrary! Here to rescue any conversation from the dangers of accord, harmony, or concordance. "Uh oh! This conversation reeks of unanimity of mind amongst those participating. Help us, Captain Contrary! We need you!"

We're spending the night with Jay and Erin, and all the girls are camping out in Hannah's room. It's certainly not the same as it was a decade ago to tuck in little Suzannabear: no more bars on the crib, longer blankies, stuffed animals that don't rattle. But she's still ticklish; she still enjoys hugs and kisses; and she still enjoys being tucked in. Happy birthday, Suzanna! You'll always be our baby girl!

For comparison: Here's Suzanna on her fifth birthday . . .

. . . and again five years later.