Golden Birthday Girl

On August 30th I turned 30 . . . and it has taken me a few days (over a week) to settle in to being in my thirties. Phil asked me what would be different, and honestly (and embarrassingly) the only difference I wrangled up was that when I read In Style I'd have to take their current trends suggestions for In Your 30s rather than In Your 20s. As if I'm known for following trends . . .

 

On Friday the 28th, my mom and stepdad, Glen, came down to take us out for a birthday dinner, and we followed our delicious dinner with ice cream cake at home. They showered me with tons of great gifts, all of which Bryce most helpfully opened!
The following day Mom & Glen watched the kiddos (and took them all around town-the boys loved spending time with them) so Phil could join me in Lewiston for my *cough* hunting-licensing class. I got 100% on my written test! (the instructor said that his class averages are always in the nineties, so I shouldn't really use an exclamation point); and to balance things out I almost failed the firing range test (I kept my safety on when trying to shoot and kept it off when telling my instructor that my pellet gun was broken, I wore the safety glasses like a headband the entire time, and the creme de la creme I kept my ear plugs in my pocket. The poor man had to keep calling out, "Hey Turquoise Girl").
On my actual birthday (which began with Lucky Charms--my mom always let us pick out a sugar cereal for birthdays, and we mustn't let these old tradtions die) my dad and brother, Alex, came down to visit. The boys love Uncle Alex and Grandpa Dan and had as much fun anticipating their arrival as they did playing with them.
And finally, (I love dragging my birthday out) Phil took me out for dinner a week later (on Fridays our favorite restaurant has our favorite soup--yes we are stuck in a rut). I realized what parents mean when they say that they like going out to eat to have time for a adult conversation. I talked, and talked, and talked, and Phil was a good listener. But we got dessert to go because we already missed the boys!