Happy Birthday, Jack!

Dear Jack,

Since your birthday party isn't for another almost two weeks, we decided to celebrate your actual birthday with a simple family outing and dinner at the Olive Garden.

Fish really are one of your favorite things right now, so we went to PetsMart and looked at the fish.
And other animals as well. You were particularly taken with the rats this time.

After PetsMart, we went to Barnes and Noble and let you and your sister play with the train table while we waited for the Hazens.
We had to see the Hazens, of course, because you and Mrs. Hazen share the same birthday and I missed my friend's birthday last year because I was a little busy. She wasn't too upset with me, though, because she was pretty miserable on her last birthday -- morning sickness as it turned out.
You got to have a pretty significant portion of the black tie mousse cake -- one of your many favorite desserts. Since you already have a well developed sweet tooth, pretty much any dessert will do, but this is one that I happen to like as well.
It was a lot of fun to share your birthday with Mrs. Hazen and her family.

Now I just have to wait another ten or eleven days for the big party! (Yes, I said, "I" have to wait -- you were fully satisfied with black tie mousse cake as a birthday celebration.)

Love,
Mom