Happy Birthday Papa

My dad made a trip to Chicago for his birthday weekend. What foodie doesn't want to spend their birthday weekend in the fine dining city of Chicago? He was treated to grilled cheese at the aquarium, messy hands after each meal, food throwing and spilt milk all over the kitchen floor. I suspect his trip had more to do with meeting a little girl and seeing her big sister.....

I took advantage of having the extra set of hands to bake my dad a cake. I spent a lot of time trying to decide what kind of spring cake to make then it occurred to me that I have never made the infamous $300 cake. The recipe is in the Evans Family cookbook and according to my grandma, my dad and his brothers requested it every year for their birthdays. I didn't allow the butter for the icing to get to the right consistency before making the icing but aside from that i think it was pretty darn good. In essence it is a red velvet cake unless you are my uncle Dan who used green food coloring once for my grandpa's birthday. I don't really recall how bad the cake looked but do remember Grandpa looking at his piece and yelling, "groooooos." Dan - we may have to have a $300 cake bake off as I think I have you beat.....

Amelia is always willing to help open presents. We were treated to a KU romp on the night of my dad's birthday. I will withhold comments regarding the next game and remind myself, "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all."

Why of course with my dad around we had some photo shoots. I can't post all the pictures or Juliet's birth announcement wouldn't be fun to get in the mail!

My dad really was a lot of help and if he were to share his babysitting success steps it would go like this; wait until the baby has been fed then offer to hold her and give the toddler your iPad. Neither one of them gave him any trouble as long as he followed those two steps!

Our home has gone from three adults and two kiddos to one adult and still two kiddos as Mark is out of town all week for work. It didn't take long for me to confirm that taking care of a newborn and toddler on your own is hardwork. Merrill arrives Thursday and I am pretty sure I will be happier than I ever have been to see her.