My Special Day 2012

My special day was just a few days ago. First, I - wait, I mean, we - opened my gifts.

PJ getting into the action. 

PJ taking over the action.

For the record I got two books from my favorite chick lit German author; a lasagna dish; a brownie dish; and a casserole dish. Like the handheld vacuum from 2009, I was excited about them all. Food! Baking! Yummies!

After breakfast and gifts, we headed over to Speyer. Adorableness happened in the first five minutes.

You know its adorable.

Our first stop was at the Speyer SeaLife, a sort of massive aquarium. When we arrived PJ was given a shark hat. He was less than impressed so I put it on. It was my birthday after all.

I'm pretty sure I rock this hat. 

PJ was immediately smitten with the fish, especially since the exhibits were remarkably clever. For instance, the exhibit below actually included small fish that looked massive through the half-circle of thick glass that magnified each fish.

But the most impressive exhibit was definitely the floor to ceiling windows into a pond-sized aquarium that had mirrors on both sides. THAT was the absolute, hands down best one. PJ thought so too.

Our second step was a relaxed dinner in a traditional-ish beer hall. I'm using the term 'relaxed' in parent terms here. Afterwards, we managed to snap a quick family picture.

There we are: the Steinbach clan. 

xo