So instead of boring you (I like to think people read this) with numerous blog posts about all things we label "for our birthdays" I thought I'd just collect it all during the month and do a massive post at the end of the month. And so now "you" have to suffer through an all encompassing post of me going on and on about all the great things we did this month and a journey through all the photos of the great times we had.
So here we go...
Our first birthday experience was going to the Cowboys vs Broncos NRL game at Suncorp Stadium in downtown Brisbane. (PS- I've started hyper-linking in case any of you want to learn more about things I write about also feel that due to all the traffic I get on the blog (joking), I'll start to get free things.. open to comments if you find it annoying). If any of you came to the wedding, you may have caught that I included that I will now go for the Cowboys in my vows. Dan is a long time North Queensland Cowboys supporter and I tossed around the idea of going for the Brisbane Broncos, but realized that going for the Cowboys might just be another #marriagesaver... so here I am . Go Cowboys. So anyways, we went with a group of friends to the Cowboys vs Broncos game, as Dan's group is pretty divided. Lisa and Dave were kind enough to give us the tickets as our birthday presents and Dan's parents- Judy and Shane- surprised us with a hotel downtown for the night so we didn't have to worry about getting home at the end of the night.
Our hotel had an awesome view of the city and river
The boys get a little excited this time of year
We had really good seats!
Side note- my highschool friend Erin, who I
haven’t seen in like 6 or 8 years, was in town visiting a friend of hers, so I
had the opportunity to hang out with her two weekends in a row. It was so good
to see her and really felt like I had seen her yesterday the way we were able
to just have so much fun hanging out again.
Me and Erin
The week following the footy game was my
birthday. My birthday was on the Friday and I wasn’t feeling very well so I
spent the day at home. Doing so I got to have some of my favorite things
throughout the day.
I started with a bowl of fruit loops (a
little different than at home)
For lunch I made some good ‘ol Mac and
Cheese (very different from home)
And mid way through the day I was surprised
with a knock on the door and a delivery of beautiful flowers organized by my
mom for my birthday!
When Dan got home, went into the city for
dinner. We decided to park in Bulimba (where we’re looking to move) and take
the City Cat (Ferry) over to the city. We started the evening with a drink at
The Jetty in Bulimba and then caught the ferry over to the Riverside stop. At
Riverside there are a ton of different restaurants all with nice views of the
river.
We ended up eating at a place called Groove
Train. We had a really nice evening and taking the ferry was so nice!
We wanted to do something fun for the
weekend, so we decided to go camping. At work we have a lot of camping
supplies, so we were able to borrow a tent and some chairs for the weekend. We
went camping at Thunderbird Park in the Tambourine Mountains. It’s only about
an hour and a half from our house, and we figured since this was our first
camping trip- and first camping trip with Jackson- we wanted to be close enough
that if all went bad we could get home quickly.
Jackson was very excited for his first camping trip
We had a really nice spot next to the creek
We had a great day exploring the area. We
walked to a waterfall and enjoyed the sunshine and being outdoors.
We ended up having to go to bed a little
early because we ran out of firewood and it was cold, but had such a great time
for our first trip. Jackson did pretty well too!
On the way home we stopped at a look out
point where you could see all the way to the ocean and the Gold Coast. There’s
a little hotel and bar there, definitely something to check out if you’re up
for a little hour drive into the “bush”.
Finally last weekend (the weekend after my
birthday) was Dan’s birthday. Dan went to Sydney for Friday and Saturday night
to meet up with Dave, Kennett, and Willie to watch the Broncos vs Tigers game
and then came back into town Sunday on his birthday.
It was actually really good having Dan out
of town just before his birthday because it enabled me to be able to plan some
fun stuff without having to sneak around.
Dan (and I) have developed a love for craft
beer (thanks San Diego!), and it’s been a struggle to find good beer here. I
did some investigating and decided to plan a little day to find good beer in
Brisbane on his birthday. Thanks to the City Cat (Ferry… remember I already
told you what that was?), we were able to bike ride and take the ferry all
around Brisbane to different little spots throughout the day.
The start of the ferry rides, at Teneriffe
For the record- helmets are the law. not the choice. don't judge. safety first.
On the Ferry!
Our bikes on the ferry
We started in Teneriffe and ended up in
Milton (see map). We saw some great sites and found some really good beer
making the gap between life in Brisbane and life in San Diego a little smaller
(now if only they’d open a Regal Beagle here!)
The route we took through the day. 4 stops and a mix of bike riding and ferry riding throughout
First stop- Tippler's Tap (one of our favorite stops)
Second Stop- Green Beacon Brewery
Final Stop- The Scratch (second favorite place of the day)
After our final stop, we took the ferry all
the way back to our starting point and then went home.
I had planned a nice dinner and an even
more exciting dessert for the old man. I normally wouldn’t share food info, but
in hopes of getting famous for something, I wanted to share my invention!
Dan loves carrot cake, so at first I was
just going to make him carrot cake. Then I thought I might make him carrot cake
cupcakes. Then I wanted to skip carrot cake and make homemade ice cream
sandwiches. Then in a stroke of genius, I decided to make Carrot Cake Cookie
ice cream sandwiches (what!!). I know unbelievable. And the more unbelievable
part is they are actually really good!
I made up recipe based on recipe
suggestions for the carrot cake cookies. Then I took vanilla ice cream and
added cinnamon to it and put it in the freezer. Once the cookies cooled I put
the ice cream in the middle and then rolled it in coconut flakes covered in
orange food coloring to make it look like carrots. I know- breathtaking. (ok
not that amazing, but I was pretty impressed with myself).
So yea, that was it. The icing on the
birthday month cake.
Overall we had a great birthday month.
Thank you all for your cards, gifts, emails, texts, facebook posts, etc. It’s
really nice to know we’re loved and celebrated on our birthdays.
For those of you who forgot.. take note- my
birthday is April 19th and Dan’s is April 28th—you can
make up for it next year.
Even Jackson remembered our birthdays and
managed to get a hair cut in celebration.
until next time…
