Jon gave me a hard time all weekend that somehow, my birthday celebrations always seem to last a couple days. Gee, not sure how that happens (ha, ha), but I guess it does sound a little preposterous that we did indeed celebrate my birthday over the course of 4 days... Hey, turning 33 is a big deal!!
We kicked off birthday celebration #1 with dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Friday night. I knew Jon and I would be going out on Saturday night for a birthday date night, so I thought it was only fair to include the little guys on this outing. Elizabeth was a riot! Whenever we are somewhere loud, she instantly feels like she needs to compete and she just hollers and squawks at the top of her lungs.
I finished my dinner first, so I ended up the lucky one who got to take Lizzie out to sit in the minivan while we waited for everyone else to finish. At least she's cute!
Birthday celebration #2 was date night at the Cheesecake Factory on Saturday night with my main squeeze and the "Squawker." We shared the egg roll sampler as an appetizer, and it was amazing. Now that I've been called as the Sunday School teacher for the 12-13 year olds, I have a huge list of capable babysitters in my back pocket. We left the other three at home with one of those cute little babysitters, but boy, it'll sure be nice when Lucy is old enough to babysit!
I don't know about you, but any birthday celebration that starts and ends with Oreo cheesecake and a shopping spree at Athleta is pretty much awesome in my book!
Birthday celebration #3 was on my actual birthday, Sunday June 26th. Jon cooked up a fantastic breakfast-- courtesy of our new BBQ grill out back. There was french toast with strawberries, bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. Impressive! I received so many nice cards and messages. I felt very spoiled!
Zach-O my little mans devouring his delicious french toast. The best part about it was since it was all cooked out on the grill, there was hardly any clean up!
That night after church we feasted on my favorites-- grilled salmon, potatoes, Mexican corn salad, and this amazing little Reeses peanut butter cup cheesecake I whipped up for my birthday cake.
Happy Birthday Sara!
I think 33 is going to be a GREAT year...
Birthday celebration #4 (I know, I know, we're still celebrating) came Monday when we took everyone to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on our new pass. We started in Australia where they have a "Wallaby Walkway," where you can literally walk with these cute little wallabies!
Watch out for the alligators!!
They've added a petting zoo since we'd last been there, and it was so much fun! The kids got to pet and brush the little goats' hair, and all the goats were named after cheese-- so there was Brie, Cheddar, Colby, Queso, and even a Mozzarella.
This little white one was Mozzarella. How happy does that little Shortcut look??
There was a fun children's area with misters and water pools that we hadn't really ever played at because it had always been too cold-- but today it was HOT. The kids were soaked!
We decided to try a tiger's blood and pina colada shaved ice. Yum! The kids were like a pack of wolves and attacked it-- and even Elizabeth knew something good was going down because she started flapping her little arms wildly and chirping for a taste!
I think one of my favorite parts about this amazing zoo is just the backdrop! It's so beautiful!
Last up were the monkeys, which are always a crowd pleaser. I think we finish with them last every time because they're the best-- but they're also right next to the exit which is super convenient. Here's Bakka the orangutan blowing kisses at the kids.
They recently acquired a new male silverback gorilla who they're trying to acclimate to his new surroundings. He was all alone in his own enclosure until he gets used to the other females. He weighed over 500 lbs. and was one big dude! We loaded everyone back up and headed home for lunch, which wrapped up my wonderful birthday weekend! Here's to 33!
