the big two-eight

Sam's birthday is none other than The Fourth Of July, which means for the past five years, Independence Day has been more about Sam gracing the earth with his presence than it is about celebrating our nation's independence. I wouldn't have it any other way. Sam grew up thinking all the fireworks were for him, and I like to pretend they are too.
This year we were in Texas for a family reunion, so Sam's birthday was a little different than it's been in years past. We spread out the birthday fun with a cake in Texas

and I made one of my favorite chocolate cakes a couple days after we got back, which we ate after Sam's favorite dinner and had my sister Whitney over to help us celebrate.
And finally, we went to eat at Coastal Flats, which is a sister restaurant to Sweet Water, which we went to with Marc and Jenn last fall. We saw Coastal Flats had the same flourless chocolate waffle with ice cream and homemade carmel sauce, so, of course, we ordered it again. Bria kind of hogged all the ice cream, but that's what you get for taking a 2 year-old out to dinner.