Quesadilla | Keeping up with the Moys

My 30th birthday consisted of a day of eating and surprises.

For lunch, we went to Chevy’s Fresh Mex at Bayfair Mall. It used to be outside next to Chili’s, but now Chevy’s is inside the mall. It’s a lot more spacious now. We picked Chevy’s because of the free sombrero and dessert on your birthday. I printed out a coupon for a free entree in the morning. I thought Melody would like the sombrero, but she’s a bit scared of it. Don’t know why, but the service was super slow. It took us two hours to finish our meal. I had to get utensils and the free tortillas that go with the fajitas I ordered from El Machino myself. Melody loved eating chips, quesadillas, and my Raspberry/Strawberry Lemonade there. She also picked the dessert. It was caramel/chocolate syrup drizzled on top of vanilla ice cream on a huge brownie. Yummy!

Melody spotted some construction vehicles inside the mall next to Chevy’s. She was ecstatic. These were the ones you put money in and they would move. Bob the Builder was in the middle construction truck. There were bulldozers, backhoes, and dump trucks…all construction trucks Melody learned about in books we borrowed from the library.

For dinner, my side of the family met up with Joyce, Melody, and myself at Kamakura Japanese Restaurant in Alameda. I yelped the restaurant before in search of another Japanese restaurant to frequent. We ordered a bunch of rolls, my usual Amaebi, and Edamame/Inari for Melody. The food was pretty good and the service (I think) is better than Sushi House due to the place being smaller. I was surprised when they turned out the lights and the staff and owner sang Happy Birthday to me. They gave me a card and a birthday platter decorated with a golden tree, paper crane, cup of Green Tea Ice Cream, an orange cut-up in an orange bowl, and a Fuji apple sliced in the shape of a bird. I was truly surprised. At the end of every meal, guests get plum wine apertif (a really sweet dessert wine with hardly any alcohol) and kids 10 and under get Botan Rice Candy.

Joyce surprised me BIG TIME when she handed me a book of birthday wishes from over 50+ people I’ve befriended over my 30 years of life. I was so surprised and shocked so many people wrote. What is even more surprising is that Joyce assembled the book right next to me while I was checking e-mail.

Afterwards, we came back to our place and ate cake. The restaurant wouldn’t let my family bring something from outside into the restaurant. It was a pretty good Mango/Raspberry Mousse Cake from Sheng Kee Bakery.

All in all a very surprising and scrumptious 30th birthday. Thank you everyone for such a memorable birthday.

– Norm

Last Week
On Saturday, we had friends from church over. They have 2 little girls. One is a little older than Melody. They had so much fun. We did make-your-own quesadillas with our quesadilla maker, and Melody seemed to really enjoy it. We made wraps with the rest of the tortilla, and let’s just say that we’ve found a new favorite food for our little girl. I think we might be able to stick anything in there and she’ll eat it…but she’s not really picky about her food anyhow (thank goodness!)

This Week
I had my appointment on Monday. It went well. My doctor got me out of jury duty. hehe Norm may need to go in next Wednesday. Oh, we also celebrated the 1st anniversary of being homeowners!! On Tuesday, we celebrated my birthday early with Vietnamese food at Le Soleil and a free scoop of ice cream at Baskin Robbins. A big CONGRATULATIONS to our friends Dawn and Brandon on the birth of their 2nd baby. Tyler is a big brother to Baby Katherine (Katie)!!! Now we’re just waiting for the other Tyler to be a big brother…any day now. It was an exceptionally sunny day out on Wednesday, so we went to the park after storytime, and Melody did not want to leave. She actually enjoyed doing laps (like her Uncle Bakkie) around the play area and watching the kids, but did play on the structure for awhile. Yesterday, we visited with my mom for our birthday. Yes, we have the same birthday. Week 12 of 52

Upcoming
Thanks to all the Company Girls who have been praying for us. Norm has a first round interview this upcoming Monday for the position that he had the phone interview for last Friday. We’re signed up for the Sibling Celebration and the tour at the hospital. Less than 70 days left now…just counting down. Melody is doing a lot better with her anxiety.

Updated
We added a few photos to Week 11 of 52. There was a break from the rain, and it has been rather nice out lately. My dad came over last week to help us start our vegetable garden. Hopefully, we’ll have a plentiful harvest this year, but not so much of the tomatoes because I lost count after 200+.