Birthday Celebration

This past Friday was my Birthday and for the first time in a long time I took the day off from work to ensure a day full of relaxation. Rebecca and the kids made me an amazing breakfast which was enjoyed in bed.

After breakfast we went out as a family researching firearms as Ariel and I are both in the market for new guns. We had a great day and found a gun store that we didn't know about which turned out to be Alex's favorite part of the trip. The employees at the shop were very friendly and once they realized that Alex had been researching different firearm manufactures they were more than happy to spend time giving him history lessons on some of their vintage guns and let him handle several different models he was interested in. After a day full of looking at guns we were all really hungry and found ourselves just around the corner from our favorite restaurant, U.S.S. Chowder Pot IV. Much to our surprise they were still offering the early bird dinners so Alex opted for a Salmon dinner, Rebecca had the Tuna steak, Ariel had the Seafood Imperial and I, being the birthday boy decided to have the Surf and Turf  - Prime Rib and Lobster tail! After dinner we drove to Friendly's for dessert. It was a great Birthday spent with my wife and kids and I look forward to many, many more.

Yesterday afternoon Rebecca's family came over for the family birthday celebration. I felt extremely special when I saw the care Rebecca put into setting the table which included a bouquet of fall flowers.

I had requested Chicken Pot Pie for the meal and upon entering the house the smell of the food cooking made me hungrier than a growing teenage boy! Along with the Pot Pie there were olives, cinnamon pickles, tossed salad with Nina's amazing homemade citrus dressing and Mom Rathbun's homemade Coffee spice bread. I added my own twist by pairing my dinner with a Harpoon's Chocolate Stout which was a perfect accompaniment to lunch.

For dessert we had cake - I know that may seem normal for most birthday celebrations but as many of you know I am not a fan of eating cake. There are however a few cakes that make me very happy such as cheesecake, pineapple upside down cake, gelatin poke cake and rum cake! I was lucky enough to get a combination of two of the above mentioned cakes. It was a pineapple upside down cake with a gelatin glaze rather than the typical brown sugar coating. It was Delicious and the leftovers were gone before day break!

I was excited thinking it was all for me and everyone else was getting something else - turns out I had to share - despite being older I still feel like a little kid, especially when it comes to time for dessert!