Danny is 31. We celebrated that fact by poking his son with a needle, twice. Jack got one of the last 16 swine flu vaccines in Oakland, and his regular flu shot for good measure. He was a champ and only cried for like 20 seconds. And then we whisked him away and began our birthday extravaganza. Danny took the day off work and we drove up to Sonoma County, where we were intent on going apple picking. I told my friend EJ about this and she asked, "Is that really a vacation for him? To go to a farm?" I asked Danny and he said, "Any farm I don't have to work on is a vacation to me!" We weren't sure where to go exactly, or where would be open on a Wednesday, even if it was a sort-of holiday (the kind that nobody but schools and the federal government really recognizes). Our i-phones showed us the way and we found ourselves at the French Garden Restaurant, a snazzy place in Sebastopol that grows all the food they serve at a nearby farm. Jack had had a nice long nap in the car and was a great mood, despite his shots. He flirted with our waitress and giggled at his silly daddy.
Then we went to see the farm that grew our lunch. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I told Danny if he could build us a farm like that, I would give up my Oakland house to live in the country.
Danny showed Jack about tractors and Jack knew just what to do. He grabbed on to that wheel tight and started turning it like he was ready to start driving. Seriously, is the big machinery affinity gene on the y chromosome or something?
After the boys got done playing with their big toys, we went to some other farms to pick some apples and persimmons, sample some asian pear-apple cider, and get Danny an apple-blackberry pie for birthday dinner. Jack liked picking fruit with his daddy.
Of course, the main attraction for Jack was not the fruit trees, but the chickens. Jack loves chickens. Tuesday mom has chickens. I think we're going to get chicken in January. Chickens are like pets but better, because they feed you. And they don't poop under your bed.
So that was our day. It was a great birthday, Danny confirms. I asked him if he had anything he wanted to add to this post about his birthday and he thought about it and said: "There's no better way to spend a birthday than with your two favorite people in the whole world." Aw.
2 comments:
After two days of cloudy, misty, depressing weather here in MN, it is such a joy to see people frolicking in the sun. Make me more cheerful just to look at the pretty pictures, and what a great birthday-day. Belated congrats to Danny on #31 -- another prime number (I like prime numbers). And speaking of Danny, you know I don't like beards on most people, but Danny grows a fine beard and is the more handsome for it. The new haircuts on everyone look great too.
What nice pictures! Happy birthday to Danny. Sorry I didn't call on the 11th - but we did think of you!
Isn't it funny how all boys like tractors? It's got to be the Y chromosome thing. I'm interested to see if Ava likes them at all. It should be an interesting sociological experiment.
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