Today was our niece Lorelai’s fifth birthday, and she ended up spending most of the day with her Aunt Kathy, Uncle Greg, and Grandpa Bob. . . and I’m not sure who enjoyed the more-  her or us.  (Let’s call it a spirited tie!)   It all began when the three of us showed up unannounced to Lorelai’s pre-school (this was pre-arranged with Polly and Mark, but it was left as a big surprise for Lorelai) in time to take her to lunch.   She was thrilled,  as though Ariel, Tinkerbell, and Snow White themselves had come to take her to lunch.  (Although considering the trio who appeared,  maybe I should say  Ariel,  Goofy, and Pluto.)  At any rate, she was excited by the surprise.  And wonder of wonders,  her choice for lunch was not McDonald’s or Chucky Cheese or Rocky Rococo’s (actually, the last one would have been okay with me)  but rather the YardArm,  one of our very very favorite places… and evidently one of Lorelai’s favorites as well, probably because of all the colorful maritime stuff all over the place plus the big aqarium with these gigantic goldfish that look like they must have been swimming in Lake Chernobyl.   We had a great meal there, and we even got Lorelai – quite a timid soul when it comes to trying different kinds of foods – to try the cheese curds…. and she loved them!  (For the same cause,  I tried the Peanut Soup and liked it.)

Then we were off to Racine’s famous Sugar Shack – which we knew Lorelai would love because:  1) they sell ice crea  2) they sell candy  and 3)  the walls are painted her favorite color,  Pink!    She had cotton candy ice cream, which was bright blue and pink and looked for all the world like it could be used as a prop in a Star Trek movie when they want to show the Klingons eating some unearthly, exotic-looking delicacy.   But she loved it, which is what counts.

From there,  we were off to our local PetCo . . . mostly just to give Lorelai a chance to admire the beautiful birds and fish,  to enjoy the hamsters and ferrets,  and to check out the turtles,  geckos, skinks, and snakes.  She was in seventh heaven – and the best part is that she didn’t beg us to buy her a gecko.  (I’m pretty certain that would not have gone over too well with Polly and Mark.)

But the biggest surprise of the day, in some ways, was when we ended up at the WGTD studios.  I had to do a little bit of recording,  but it was Kathy who suggested that Lorelai might enjoy seeing where I do my radio work – and perhaps we could even come up with some sort of fun little recording project.  (I burned a CD of our efforts which Lorelai presented to her mom and dad.)   And that’s what we did. . .  and Lorelai took to it like she’s a little Susan Stamberg in the making,  not the least bit intimidated by the setting.   Then again, that was nicely in keeping with the theme of the day-  which we came up with at lunch when Lorelai so bravely tried the cheese curds and liked them.   “That’s the great part about turning five,”  I told her.  “You get to be braver!”

And sure enough, you do.

pictured above:  Lorelai and her Aunt Kathy, recording a Thanksgiving song as the finale to the CD we made.  (It turned out to be a surprisingly violent song about five turkeys and how one by one they *chop* lose their heads to the cook-  but it was the only thanksgiving song they both knew.  But had I realized what the lyrics were like, I wouldn’t have prefaced it with a rather syrupy introduction about how thankful we were on the eve of Thanksgiving.)   By the way,  Lorelai asked if she could wear headphones;  apparently, she doesn’t like to record without them.