I've been planning a special birthday date with Danny for months!  It was a lot of work to try to work out a babysitter and find good tickets for just the right show at this great restaurant and music club to which I had been introduced this spring.  I told Dan waaaaaay in advance to block off his calendar for his birthday, and, despite being really busy this week (and being in Eau Claire instead of Afton), he obliged, and drove all the way back for his birthday.

Dan arrived at the house and found Eddy and me running around the house trying to get everything together.  First we gave him some birthday hugs and kisses.  Then we rounded everything up and hit the road pretty quickly.  I was impressed.  Off to the babysitter!

Apparently babysitter Kristen didn't tell her little girls that their friend Eddy was coming, because they were quite shocked to see us walk in the door, after three months of absence!  They were very excited.  Eddy was excited, too.  He had been looking forward to seeing his friends for two whole days!  And he had birthday cookies all ready to share with them.

Off we sped in our gorgeous clothes, our cool sunglasses and our shiny fast sports car/Subaru down I-94 toward the city, opposite all the rush hour traffic.  We were happy, for a while, until we learned there was traffic in both directions.  Oh.  Good thing I planned lots of extra time to get there!  We had plenty of time to park, walk to the restaurant, find our seats, mull over the menu 20 times before deciding, and open presents before the show.

It was a great show.  I don't know if you've heard of the Gin Blossoms, but they were really popular in the 90's (I remembered several songs from the radio growing up) and have a new album out this year.  (I did plenty of checking on youtube before buying tickets).  It was a last minute visit for them, only a week and a half notice, but still the place was packed.  And everybody joined in the fun.  We were up on the mezzanine right in front of the stage, and found it provided the perfect balance of privacy and action, and a great view of the band.  We clapped and hooted with the best of them, in between eating our gourmet (though a little more expensive than we're used to) dinner made by a nationally renowned chef.

We went on a walk after the show, enjoying the perfect summer evening of downtown Minneapolis.  All the nightlife was lighting up, and the sky was still light blue.  The huge harvest moon added to the mood.  The ride back was much less crowded.  With windows down and wind in our hair we jammed out to Daniel's other birthday present, the hip-hop sounds of tobymac!

Eddy was happy to see us and tell us all about the fun he had, I was happy for the night to be a success with no major hiccups, and Dan was happy for all we'd done for his birthday, especially for cookies to eat and new music to listen to on his hour drive back to Eau Claire.

Thanks, Danny, for being so great, and letting me show you a good time for your birthday.  I'm so happy to be with you!  Happy birthday!