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Today is my birthday. I share it with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, whom i wish i shared more things with, namely looks. However, i am more of a "Norma Jean". ;O)

Hubbie took the day off so we could do something. We didn't know just what it would be. Aren't those usually some of the best days of your life?

It was difficult to be too spontaneous, because Ri had to be to school today. Hubbie treated me by taking her to school and allowing me to hang out in my jammies for a few hours more. I finished up some of the teacher's gifts and then we headed outside for some digging in the garden and some time with the chickens. We almost have the veggie patch dug out for the season and i got two more tomatoes planted, pumpkins mulched, an area for the corn cleared, and potatoes hilled a second time.

Soon, it was time to pick up Ri and we decided that we would drive out to Enumclaw for the afternoon.


When we got to school, one of Ri's friend's mom surprised me with a gift--this beautiful serving bowl (that Sandwich, our cat, is obviously hoping is her new tuna dish.) :o) This will come in especially handy with all the family coming in this week!!



Then it was off to Enumclaw (or Enum-scratch as Hubbie calls it)--it's a sweet little town that is nestled in the foothills of Mt. Rainier. It has some possibilities as a place that our lil' Mac family might be able to call home. They are struggling to control sprawl, like most other places in America. It used to be just a little one horse lumber and farming town--also visitour hub as it is along the way to Mt. R. Sadly, most everything downtown that isn't a law firm or real estate office is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Next year, i'll have to remember to have my birthday on a Wednesday or Thursday. :o)

It's one of those places though, that all the good stuff (aka Mom and Pop shoppes) are located on two roads. So we strolled one of them and found our lunch place--sure to be a favourite anytime we have a reason for a celebration. It's called Cafe Panini.

Everything was super duper good Italian food. Reasonable prices and friendly staff. You can't beat that! The best part was the pie...i had thought i was coming home to make birthday brownies until the waitress showed up the pie menu. Oh my goodness! There was every kinda sophisicated pie you could ever want--lushes, crumbles, cream...the list goes on. They are made locally by a woman who won a Food Network contest with her Peanutbutter Finger pie. So we had to try a piece of that and a piece of the cherry almond crumble. Heaven! The peanutbutter finger pie had a walnut shortbread crust that was to die for! The crumble on the cherry pie was like the top of a Drake's cake...oy! It was a perfect birthday lunch!

Here are some more pictures of downtown Enumclaw:

This building above on the right i totally want! It used to be the perfect spot for an antique mall, but now it is for sale. It reminds me of the really old fashioned variety stores...the facade near the front doors is a beautiful pale greenish turquiose tile and the floor under the awning is green terrazo. I would so love to open up a bakery/coffee/trinket shop in something like that. However with no apartment above, where would you live to get your start?

After we finished with downtown, we headed to the local feed store for some grit for our chicks. We lost one last night from that closed vent problem, so we're trying to introduce a little roughage to their diet.

Then we tootled around looking at farms for sale before we decided to go investigate Mud Mountain Dam. This was taken on the road up to Mud Mtn. Wouldn't you love to have this farm with such a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier like that??This is a view from Mud Mtn Dam. It's a great park built up there with a child's playground, a wading pool, bbqs, and beautiful views like this one below.


I am going to do a little post on it later in the week, as they do some things at that dam that would probably surprise people outside of Western Wa.

Before we left, we had to take some of the obligatory birthday photos:

Riona took this one of Hubbie and i--she asked us to say "happy birthday" on the count of three. She'll be a photographer like her momma in no time! (Especially after i get my new camera and the old one is bequethed to her.)

Then when we got home, i mowed the lawn and relaxed a bit more. Got so much cleaning to do before tomorrow, but this cold has me worn out! All in all, it was a wonderful day and a memorable birthday.

Happy June 1st everybody!