Impromptu Birthday Celebration

OK, so Scott's official birthday isn't until Monday, but one of the gifts we had for him needed to be addressed on Friday, and we did so right after dinner:

Yes, this very mysterious gift was a five hour Barbeque Workshop at the Viking Cooking School held today from 10am til 3pm. Hey, if the man's been bit by a cooking/grilling bug, it is only appropriate that I encourage it, as a supportive wife and all,... right? Wasn't that in the vows we said to each other over six years ago? "I will honor, cherish , respect and encourage any and all cooking "obsessions" you might get in the future, especially if it means delicious meals I don't have to cook." Well, it sounds vaguely familiar,...

Anyway, he did indeed love it. They prepared BBQ ribs, pork shoulder, chicken, several side dishes and a dessert. He learned new techniques and recipes for rubs, sauces and other "barbequey" things.

The kids and I decided to sneak a peak so that I could get a couple of pictures. Holy cow, the smell in there was to die for! They were just getting ready to eat when we came by so we weren't there very long, and thank goodness for that cause they were gonna have to tackle me to keep me from tearing into that pork shoulder. I am so looking forward to tasting some of those recipes when Scott makes them for us. YUM!

Since I told Isabella we were going to see her Daddy to take a few pictures, she decided to bring along her own camera (it's a real digital camera which doesn't work, but she plays with all the time). This camera was a gift from Scott's parents years ago and it was the very first digital camera we ever owned. She so loves "taking pictures" with it that we actually have a toddler digital camera on her Christmas list for this coming year. So right before we left she told her Daddy to say cheese and pose for her and she "took his picture".

Oh, she makes me so proud. She just might have the same crazy picture-taking fascination/obsession gene I have in me. It brings a tear to my eye.

So to finish my unintentional long post, last night after dinner Scott begged me to let him open the other gifts we had gotten him. I told him that although I had everything planned out for Monday, we could go ahead and celebrate his birthday early. So I drove by, where else? Yes, Baskin Robbins to pick up a small ice cream cake (seriously, we should just start calling this our family tradition, don't you think?) and we went home, sang Happy Birthday, blew out some candles, opened presents and ate ice cream cake. I'd say that was a very successful impromptu birthday celebration.