Today to give Alex something to do we went on a road trip to Mishawaka to go to the mall. Unfortunately we got a little lost on the way. We got off the bypass at the wrong road (we thought it was the right one until we got way north and there was no mall...just the Inside Outlet), then we thought "I don't want to go all the way back...I bet this road here just cut across to the road we want" and we went on a little adventure that took us all over Mishawaka, South Bend, and Elkhart. About an hour of wandering later, we came out on a main road...just next to the Inside Outlet. About midway through our little tour we were about a half mile from where we wanted, but didn't know that at the time. Of course, both kids were crying by the time we actually got to the mall because they were starving. But Alex got to play in that neat kids play area they have for quite a while, which was good because the weather has been so crappy he can't play outside.

Mom and Laura have been visiting for Alex's birthday for the past few days. Mom arrived Thursday; Friday was date night so we dropped off the kids and went to El Arrierro for dinner with Al and Angel and Mom and just hang out and talked while we waited for Laura to arrive. Interesting exchange between the waiter and Laura, as we sat and talked while the restaurant otherwise emptied out:
waiter: "Can I get you anything else?"
Laura: "No, we're just sitting here taking up space."
waiter: "I can see that."
Saturday was the party. Nothing like the huge to-do we had last year, just some friends and family. Most of Beth's family came down for the day too. The big thing this year was the turtle sandbox. And a bunch of Wiggles stuff. Bowling night was in the evening and Mom and Laura went as spectators to a really awful night of bowling by both me and Beth. Sunday, we went out to American Table for breakfast and Alex did one of those "this is why I hate taking a toddler to a restaurant" performances, making a mess and a lot of noise. Well, it was our fault really, he got really bored waiting for a table.