Sofia Vergara had a lemon-themed birthday dinner at the weekend.

Sofia Vergara and son Manolo (c) Instagram

Sofia Vergara and son Manolo (c) Instagram

The 'Modern Family' actress turned 44 on Sunday (10.07.16) and had a fruity celebration with her friends and family in Los Angeles, with her 23-year-old son Manolo even donning a lemon costume as part of the fun.

Sofia - who is married to Joe Manganiello - documented the fun on Snapchat with a custom lemon filter, and even donned Manolo's outfit, which came complete with a yellow hat, at one stage.

She also showed off her stunning cake, which was topped with a giant edible flower, and a limoncello bar at the celebration.

Manolo had also shared an Instagram video in which he wished his mother a happy birthday - but she stopped him from revealing her age.

He told the camera: "Happy birthday, Mom. I can't believe you're turning..."

As Sofia stopped him from revealing her age, he captioned the clip: "18. She's turning 18. #HappyVerde (sic)"

Sofia revealed at the weekend her birthday celebrations had been planned at the last minute as she hadn't expected to be in Los Angeles.

She told 'Extra': "I thought I was not going to be in town... I organised something really fast last week, so it's just going to be, like, a dinner; it's not going to be that big or that crazy, it's just going to be simple, because I thought I really was going to be in New York."

The stunning star admitted she has to put in a lot of "effort" to maintain her good looks and curvy figure these days.

But her best diet tip is to "sacrifice" herself on weekdays so she can eat what she wants at weekends.

She said: "It's a reality that you do have to make the effort -- things are not in the same place that they used to be... I try not to compare myself to anyone... I work out when I can, I try to eat healthy Monday through Friday, the weekend I eat cake. I love entertaining... I sacrifice myself during the week so during the weekend I can do whatever I want.

"The way you live in your twenties and your thirties is something that's going to show when you're 40."