Daddy's birthday!

Happy 32nd birthday to Noel!  My younger man.  : )  

Buster, on the lookout for chipmunks

Sunday was Noel's birthday and his Dad (Scott) and his Dad's girlfriend (Lori) came to visit, bringing their dog Buster.  It was nice to have Avery get to visit with them again because he is growing and changing so fast!
One of the things I like about having company is that it forces us to clean the house.  (We cleaned so well that we temporarily lost the cable to get the photos off the camera, so that is why I am late posting this!)  I think we have to start cleaning more often because Shelby knows that when we start cleaning, company is coming over.  She gets excited and starts watching out the window!  Apparently that's the only time we clean?!  But I digress...
So Scott and Lori arrived on Saturday afternoon, bringing lots of treats with them (they know the way to our hearts!).  We had a nice visit - Avery was charming - and they went for a walk while I went out to do some last minute birthday errands.  Avery was so cute because he was all dressed up in a cow print outfit that Scott and Lori bought for him.  They always buy cow things for Noel, so they saw this and decided that they had to buy it for Avery.  So cute!
Noel got to choose anywhere he wanted to go for dinner and he chose a restaurant we hadn't been to before -  The Walter's Falls Inn Restaurant.  It was about a 45 minute drive away but it was worth it!  Once Avery was safely tucked into bed under the loving care of my Mom, we headed out.  As we drove along the country roads in the pitch blackness, Noel remarked "I guess I didn't really think this through..." but it turns out that he did still have a nice view of the falls during dinner because they had it lit up and we had a good table by a window.  The food was amazing!  I had the Risotto Special and it was so delicious that I didn't even save any to take home.  Yum!  We all vowed that we would have to go back some time in warmer weather so that we could eat there again and sit outside
near the falls.  
Back at home we sung "Happy Birthday" to Noel and had yummy Black Forest cake (Noel's favourite) and delicious Turtle Cheesecake.

Sunday was Noel's actual birthday and I dug out a Batman "Happy Birthday" banner and hung it by the fireplace.  When Noel woke up we had a scrumptious brunch of french toast, bacon, and strawberries and raspberries, with fresh squeezed orange juice!  (Now that I am reading over this I am noticing that much of this blog post is about food!)
Once we were finished breakfast it was time for Noel to open his presents.  He asked for Starbucks giftcards (our maternity leave budget is taking a toll on him and he's really missing his Starbucks Chai Lattes!) and he got several of those.  He also really liked the fob watch that my Mom & Dad got him.  I think his favourite present though, was the one from Avery.  While Avery and I were standing in line at Zellers, we saw this gift on display and realized we had to get it for Noel!  So, wrapped up in Justice League wrapping paper, was this  He loved it!  I can't wait for Avery and Noel to be able to play with it together!  : )  Then we all went for another walk down by the marina.  Overall it was a great weekend!  I am so glad that Scott and Lori were able to come visit and that Noel had such a good birthday weekend.  Again, we are lucky that we have such loving and generous family that is willing to drive so many hours to spend time with us.