Thirty

I turned 30 yesterday. So far, it doesn't feel any different than 29.

Emily gave me the cutest birthday card. It read: "Daddy, it's your birthday, so you can do anything you want. Wanna play?" So that's just what we did. Misty and I were both off work for President's Day, so we took Emily to the zoo.

On the way there, we stopped for lunch at Chick-fil-A. Emily was thrilled to partake of tiny bites of chicken nuggets and waffle fries and to drink sips of lemonade dripped from a straw. It was her first kid's meal (even though Misty and I ate most of it).

At the zoo, I was surprised at some of the things that did or didn't catch Emily's attention. She was fascinated by the flamingos, for instance, but she didn't show much interest in the more colorful macaws. We enjoyed watching the spider monkeys and the gorillas. We met Mona the Elephant and read the sympathy cards mourning her friend Susie's death earlier in the month. We got to see a tiger up close as he paced back and forth in front of the window and even put his paws up against the glass.

Later in the evening Misty took me out to eat at P.F. Chang's, where we'd tried to go last year. This time our luck was better (since we had reservations), and I finally got to see what all the hype over lettuce wraps was about.

So far, it's shaping up to be a good decade for me.