Another Anniversary...

One year ago today, we met our children for the first time.  You may have noticed that I am very big on anniversaries.  I keep track of every day on which something significant happened...  (more to come over the next few weeks.)  On an impulse, I decided to take the day off work today.  Wow- you don't hear me saying that too often...

Anyway, I really had a fantastic day.  We pretty much did whatever we wanted, all day long.  We slept in until 8:00.  Tino was such a good boy and played quietly in his room for about an hour so Mommy, Daddy, and Victoria could get some more sleep.  Finally, he'd had enough and came into our room and announced loudly, "It's morning time.  Time to wake up!"

We rode bikes, ate Otter Pops (frozen sugar water with various shades of artificial coloring), watched animated programs, went to the park with friends, played in the sand, ate dinner at a wes-ta-waunt, and finished the day with a stop at a frozen custard place.  Yum.  Frozen custard is one of my life's passions.

I was asking Tino if he remembered the day we met, and he said that he did.  We had brought them each a helium balloon that day, and I asked him what was the image on his balloon.  He remembered that it was Curious George.  He wanted another balloon and I told him we would buy him a balloon in honor of our anniversary.  So before we went for the frozen custard, we stopped at a grocery store and let them pick the balloon of their choice.  Tino opted for Spiderman and Victoria wanted "Meh-mo" (Elmo from Sesame Street.)  We allowed them to bring their balloons into the frozen custard place and it hadn't occurred to me that two little kids with balloons would attract so much attention.  Both balloons said "Happy Birthday" on them.  The first person to ask was the cashier.  "Whose birthday is it?"  she asked.  Unprepared for the question and unwilling to go into an explanation of what our anniversary meant, I just said, "It's not really  a birthday, it's just a happy day."  She looked at me with great puzzlement and said, "A happy what?"  I repeated, "It's a happy day."  Pause.  "A happy day?"  I said, "It's no one's birthday."  She stared at me.  Then I said, "I have to take my daughter to the potty," and beat a quick retreat.

The next person was a friendly fellow diner.  Once again, "Whose birthday is it?"  This time, I was more prepared and said, "Oh, it's not their birthday today.  Mommy and Daddy just bought them a balloon because we love them."  That seemed acceptable to her and she carried on with some more chit chat with the children.

A short while later, while we were eating our frozen custard, a gentleman came along and assumed it was Tino's birthday, so he was asking how old he was.  Tino suddenly had a lapse of memory and was unable to tell the man how old he was.  "Is it your birthday?' the man asked.  "Today is my birthday, and I'm 77.  How old are you?"  Then I asked Tino, "Should we give this balloon to him for his 77th birthday?"  And he said, "No, I'm going to keep this balloon."  The man was super nice and moved on with no further questions.

I didn't think it was really that odd to buy them a balloon, but good to know that if I'm ever looking to get a lot of attention from strangers in a public place, all it will take is a couple of $2 helium balloons.  Oh, and two really adorable children, of course.

Happy Anniversary to us!