John turns 30!

It's official. John and I are both now 30 years old! Don't ask how it feels because it doesn't feel any different for him than it did for me. So instead of dwelling on the fact that another year is gone why don't I share what a fun time we had celebrating. Great idea!

Let me start by saying that John's birthday celebrations seem to take on a life all their own. While most people have a birth day. Day being the key word. John has something like a birth week. It seems that the celebration is always stretched out a long time. Not that I mind. I'm not jealous or anything. I guess I'm just happy I get to be in on the celebrations too. 

This year, thanks to groupon we were able to go out to a nice mexican restaurant for his actual birthday. We ate so much and couldn't even finish dessert. No. You did not hear me incorrectly. John actually turned down more food! I know it's crazy. It's hard for me to even believe it myself. If I wasn't there to see it with my own eyes....

Then his small group guys took him out to a sports bar. Guy time. (Insert Home Improvement grunting)

Friday was "our" day to celebrate. We took off work and headed to the Botanic Gardens. John was really impressed and it was a gorgeous day. We had ourselves a little picnic and walked the grounds for a while. They had this crazy Bonzai exhibit and some of these little trees were amazingly intricate! Did I mention that it was a gorgeous day? It was. And also they had some crazy cool flowers which I love taking pictures of.

Our tiny lunch picnic

There is something so cool about lily pads

Ok...natures showerhead?

I love this "hidden" view from Spider Island

John and I just thought these were the coolest flowers.
I mean they are like 4 different colors in 1 flower.

One of the Bonzai trees

I love weeping willows. 

I just thought this looked cool because of the reflection.

So serene!

Some ducks came to visit

We left the gardens and headed to Ravinia where we had lawn tickets to watch the Lord of the Rings on the big screen with the score played live by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. What a cool experience it was! We got there early, but apparently not early enough. By the time we got in the gates all the front lawn seats were taken. We did manage to nab some good seats though and we set up camp. It was tough lugging everything in but well worth it. 

People here take pickniking to a whole new place. Serious is the word that comes to mind. They take it very seriously. Wine, cheese, candleabras, little tables, tablecloths, stakes to hold wine glasses, etc. These are items that were pretty common as I looked around. It was super fun to people watch. We had our subs and chips and cheerwine and were really happy. We had to wait around a few hours before the movie began but it was a beautiful evening and felt great to just be outside. 

Our picnic spot.

The movie itself was wonderful, as always. It was fun to see it on the big screen and I was actually really amazed at the clarity and detail in such a large and far away screen. Since we couldn't actually see the orchestra it was easy to forget that they were playing. The dead giveaways were the odd clapping and cheering that would erupt at the end of various scenes in the movie. That was actually quite amusing. They did a great job though and John really enjoyed it, which is important. 

Saturday we went to Benihana for my cousins birthday and then later to Johnnies Beef, which my Johnny likes. 

Sunday we celebrated with my family at another sports type restaurant. And then capped it off with some Nutty Buddy Pie (another John fav). That ended the celebration but I think he would tell you it was a good birthday. I had fun too. I wonder what festivities next year will bring?