30

We had a birthday about a month ago that we've Austin's been forgetting to blog about.

It was birthday number 30, so Laura had 30 balloons (which Brooklyn loved)...

...each with a cute message inside. (Austin didn't pop them so B could play with them later -- and so she wouldn't get scared by the loud noises.)

Laura "helped" Brooklyn make an awesome card -- little silver hearts that would reveal a message underneath when scratched off with a penny. Let's just say that the graphic designer in the family was very impressed by this great printing technique and wished he'd done it first!

Opening presents have become a lot more fun recently thanks to our little helper.

Austin grew out of his old Brooklyn Dodgers cap he got in high school (which now belongs to Braden) and Laura got a replacement for him. He realized a few months ago that he didn't have a baseball cap -- something no American dad should ever be without.

She also found some tasty Ukrainian snacks at a local shop with world foods.

The best present was a book full of photos and memories from family members that Laura secretly put together -- it was the next best thing to having everyone in our home to celebrate. Big big thank you to everyone who sent something!

Side note: Brooklyn likes pretending to talk into anything that looks like a phone. (Or anything at all -- we've found her talking into a plastic fish toy before.)

We went to our favorite little restaurant for a birthday brunch.

Someone was very happy to have her own cup and straw.

Dinner was our Saturday night tradition -- and a tradition of ours in general -- of homemade pizza. We went with a classic pepperoni and it was wonderful. We miss Nicolitalia's dough, but our neighbor Trader Joe is filling in nicely.

Austin wanted chocolate chip cookies for his birthday dessert, but we had to sing and blow out candles anyway. Brooklyn was still not a fan of the candles. (She did, however, love the cookies.)

So what's it like being 30? Austin says it's no big deal... because he started rounding up by fives after he turned 25. :)