Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!

(That means "happy birthday" in German.)

Yesterday, I turned thirty. My hubby planned to take me out to the restaurant of my choice when he got home -- he drove to work instead of taking the train so he could be home half an hour early. But for whatever reason, Dano decided he needed a longer nap than usual. A marathon nap. Usually, he goes to sleep at three-thirty and wakes up anytime between five and seven. My husband got home at 6 as planned, but Dano didn't wake up. We waited. We puttered around doing odd chores. We waited. We gave up on him and made grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Dano slept on. We eventually woke him up at eight-thirty so he'd be up a bit before bedtime and we wouldn't have to worry about him waking up at four in the morning with his usual, "Boing! I'm awake!"

So we went out for lunch today instead. I chose to go to Cafe Little Europa in Brookfield. We'd been there for supper last summer and enjoyed it, but never made it back since. It's a charming little place, and we had a lovely lunch. They had a box full of train tracks and blocks, which Dano loved. He almost didn't want to stop playing to eat, and hopped back off his chair as soon as we'd let him. My hubby had Weiner Schnitzel and I had Sauerbraten, and we ended with yummy dessert: a slice of chocolate mousse cake for me and Palatschinken (a thin crepe) ala mode for my hubby. Dano had macaroni and cheese, but he liked the cheese Spaetzel that came with my hubby's entree just as well. Next time we go there, we'll have to remember just to get him that.

The owner, Manuela Young, has a blog here that is quite fun to read. She's actually from Germany, and we had a nice little visit with her today. She held Mercy for a while so I could eat more easily, and got along with Dano well too.

I know most of my readers and followers don't live around here, but those of you who do and who enjoy trying new foods, I absolutely recommend Cafe Little Europa. It was the perfect place for my slightly belated birthday celebration :-)