Surprise!

Today was my Papaw’s 80th birthday, and we got to be in Odessa for his big day. He got to walk into his favorite restaurant to find a whole slew of his family members waiting for him with a big “SURPRISE!” Thankfully, he really had no idea, so he was taken completely off-guard, the way a good surprise-party victim should be! Kudos to my grandmother and all her helpers for pulling that off! We had a great dinner, followed by a Bulgarian birthday cake, made from scratch by the Bulgarian-born owners of the restaurant. It was different than any cake I’ve ever tasted, with oranges and nuts, I think (a combination that didn’t really sound good, but WAS), in a spongy cake, layered with whipped cream. Yum! I’ll confess, I also had some of the kids’ red velvet cake, too, and the frosting was SO good. Unfortunately, I’ve been told that the owner does NOT share recipes (can’t blame her!), so I won’t be making any of it at home. Nobody says I can’t search for Bulgarian cake recipes, though! There are cousins here with us that I haven’t seen in many years, so it’s great to be able to visit with all of them, too. And the festivities continue tomorrow with a big barbecue. Now, that’s what I call a birthday party! I am trying to load pictures, but blogspot is not cooperating... maybe I can load them later.

The kids and Craig are currently all bundled into the hotel beds watching Animal Planet. Apparently, sharks are REALLY cool to guys… young and old!