Murphy's 9th Birthday Celebration

It's only Tuesday and I'm pretty exhausted. We're(I'm) still recovering from our whirlwind weekend in Albany. We went to Albany to celebrate Murphy's birthday. Why Albany? Well, Murphy wanted to go to a hotel and swim AND go to a Build a Bear Workshop. We don't have one here and rather than just go to Syracuse, we decided to try something different. We stayed in Downtown Albany with a beautiful view of the capitol building. First we went to Jillian's, a restaurant and arcade for families. Kids had a great time but I warn you that the Jillian's in Albany is a bit rundown and not kept up as well as some others we have visited. Again, the kids had a good time and that is all that matters. After Jillian's we went back to the hotel and swam. Then we got dressed again and went to the mall. Murphy built a stuffed husky(okay Murphy we get it, you want a real dog!) and bought it clothes. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous but that is what she wanted to do and she was very happy! I would like to shake the hand of the person who invented this store. I have to say it's such a stupid concept but people(like us) are sucked right in. For God's sake we bought clothes for a stuffed animal!!!!! Anyway, we ate at Johnny Rockets which was a lot of fun. Kids really enjoyed the atmosphere and the workers danced and sang. It was fun for Michael and I too and the food was good. We returned to the hotel to sleep(if you want to call it that). I think the kids slept but Michael and I just made it through the night. I had two kids in my bed and he had one. We're going to graduate to a suite in the future! The next morning we swam again and then packed up and headed home. Albany is only two hours away. We all had a great time. I did take a two hour nap on Sunday afternoon but again, I'm still exhausted! Tomorrow I have to go back to Albany for work and next Monday I may have to go to Buffalo. Oh well, at least it's a beautiful state! The picture of Murphy is from our hotel room. She is eating her birthday cake which I made(it's a box but at least I made it!) and the other photo is of Atticus. It's just a funny picture of him in the hotel. Hope all is well. BTW-it was 60 today here in Binghamton. It's a veritable heat wave.