Well...

We had a very nice day yesterday. Alex came home from college for the day, the weather was gorgeous (and that has such an impact on everything at this time of year), and we attended a family party to celebrate our great-nephew Michael's third birthday.

Oh, and did I mention that Alex brought his girlfriend home with him???

Ah yes...the boy went off to college and got himself one of those girlfriends.

My little baby has ventured into territory I wasn't sure I'd be comfortable with. The child who purposely put mud inside the car when he was about 5 years old, and smeared it all around. The little boy who tried to ride his toy tractor beyond his sidewalk boundaries, and when I told him to turn around, he called me Cruella De Ville. The sweet little thing who would look at me and say "But I love you Mommy" whenever he'd throw up. The angel who couldn't go to sleep without Doggie Doggie every night...

has a girlfriend.

Here's the best part though....

we like her.

We really do. Natalie's not only sweet and kind, but she's charming, intelligent, and beautiful!

She scored BIG brownie points with Ted when she arrived with a box of Anthony Thomas candy. Her mom works there, and Natalie does too during the summer. I'd include a picture of the candy, but it's, ahem, almost gone. Ted let me have a few pieces though. Wasn't that nice of him?

We went to our favorite restaurant for lunch....Bravo. Of course I had to take some pictures. Maybe when Alex sees this he'll realize that his hair is too long. It practically pokes out Natalie's eye. He has an appointment to get a haircut when he comes home for Easter weekend.

We spent the evening at Peg and Mac's celebrating Michael's birthday and we all had a great time.

Check out Peg's Barbie collection in the background. She specializes in "I Love Lucy" and "The Wizard of Oz."

Natalie was great...we had given her a rundown on who was who before we went and she just went with the flow.

Our niece Holly was busy on her phone throughout the evening, sending and receiving texts, as she and her friends made plans to go to the Kentucky Derby in May. She's also going to Scottsdale, AZ in May, then Tybee Island in September. She loves to travel, and does so whenever she can. Good for her!

Alex even played with one of Michael's toys and it didn't phase Natalie. Wow, that's impressive.

Alex was very busy with the remote control because Peg and Mac have DishNetwork and he was checking out all the music channels. Aunt Patty (also his godmother) tried to distract him, but you can see the death grip he has on it.

I'm so glad that he feels he can be himself around her and be as goofy as he is normally. Heck, I think she even "gets" his sense of humor.

Michael was relaxing in this chair, as his mom Kelly (our niece), looked on. He liked it so much, he took a little break from opening his gifts!

Michael got a tricycle and was trying to figure out the pedal thing. He also got a John Deere tractor and was ready to take it out and start mowing.

What a nice day!