I wasn't sure what I wanted to do to celebrate and went back on forth on different options with Brian. We finally settled on a plan and I was looking forward to a good day.
The morning welcomed me with breakfast cereal - this is a tradition from Brian's youth where you get to have cereal that you usually don't have. This year it was Kellogg's Cinnabon. The birthday snake was also stuffed with goodies to open throughout the day.
We did some normal Wednesday activities like going to aerobics at the stake center and taking Paige to her summer art class. After lunch Brian came home so Paige and I could go on a Mommy Daughter date while the boys took a nap and Brian worked from home.
Paige and I spent the afternoon at SevenPeaks water park. She received a free ticket at school and spending my birthday in the sun just seemed like the right thing to do. I guess that's what happens when you grow up in Arizona with a June birthday - all the activities I could think of wanting to do involved sunshine and water. The trouble with SevenPeaks is that they have a policy that pregnant women cannot ride the water slides. Booo! I debated whether the admission price would be worth it, but hey - it was my birthday.
It was a beautiful sunny day and probably the first actually warm day we have had this summer - the perfect day for playing in the water. The trouble was that everyone else in Provo was thinking the same thing. The park was amazingly crowded. Our neighbors, the Heilesons, were so nice to meet up with us so that they could take Paige on the waterslides while I waited, but the lines were so long we kind of gave up on the idea. Paige was adventurous trying new things like swinging and jumping off the rope swing. It took her a while to work up the courage (to the chagrin of the people in line behind her), but she finally did it! The trouble with Paige is that she doesn't know how to swim. So we checked out a life jacket for her. But the trouble with that was that they only had adult sizes left. It was quite a hindrance, but it at least kept her afloat and she didn't seem to mind.
Despite all the troubles, Paige and I actually had an enjoyable day playing in the water. It would have been different if it had been less crowded, but we got sufficiently sunburned and made some good memories.
Brian picked us up before dinner and we hurried home to get ready for the next part of my birthday. We arranged for our good neighbors, the Parry's, to babysit while Brian and I went out to eat. We were running late. Brian worked on making Fruit Pizza while I tried to make myself presentable. The Fruit Pizza is what I requested for my birthday cake. I loooove to eat fruit pizza, but I'd never known how to make it - turns out its pretty easy (except for all the slicing and dicing), but I think we will definitely be making it again sometime.We arrived at the Parry's 45 minutes late and said we would return at 8:30. Dinner at Olive Garden was lovely and delicious. We finished up just in time to get the kids. I was glad we would actually be on time for once so that it wouldn't feel like we were taking advantage of their generous offer to babysit. Brian kept trying to stall - wanting to drive up the hill to watch the storm roll through town, but I was determined to be on time.
When we went to pick up the kids Travis opened the door and told us they were in the backyard and to come on in. When I rounded the corner to the kitchen I saw that their table was pushed up against the back door (so I wondered how they were in the backyard) and I saw a birthday banner (so I tried to remember when their kids' birthdays were) and I saw Fruit Pizza on the counter...then I heard "SURPRISE!"
Whoa! A surprise party! That I was not expecting. The kids jumped out from their hiding spots and some of my best girl friends in the ward sprang out from around the corner too. I was completely surprised! Now it made sense why Brian was trying to stall so much - they were still waiting for some people to arrive.
There was cake and cookies and chips and salsa. The kids all played together and the grown ups visited. Well, then the dads ended up entertaining the kids while the moms visited. And then the dads took the kids around 10:30 to be put to bed.
Then the five of us girls sat around until after midnight chatting away and bouncing a balloon back and forth between us. I think it was probably something new to all of us - to just chat and not worry about what was going on at home. We were all in need of a good girls night out. Hopefully Brian didn't feel too neglected, but kudos definitely goes to him for helping to figure out a perfect 30th birthday.
Being 30 isn't all the bad. In fact it feels kind of better than 29. All this past year I've felt weird whenever somebody asked me my age. I'd say 29, and then I'd wonder the rest of the time if they really believed me, or if they thought I was just trying to hide my age. Well, now I don't have to feel like I'm lying anymore!
