Friday night we went to Five Star BBQ. Robert and Shawn (my father in law) are obsessed with their ribs and every time Robert and I have gone they have been sold out. I invited Shawn, Chelsea and Michael and my parents to dinner there. Unfortunately Michael got caught up at work so they weren't able to make it but it was nice having our families there. My parents were babysitting my brother's son Claytin and dropped him off during our meal and decided to stay for some food so we had some surprise visitors. After we ate I took Robert to get some Rita's Italian Ice. As Robert chowed down on that and got a brain freeze I drove to the movie theater. The Giver came out on his birthday and I had purchased tickets the night before. When we went to see Divergent we saw the trailer for The Giver and we were both excited. Well he was excited and told me it was a great book and easy read. I decided to read it and then I was excited and anxiously awaiting the movie. During the movie we talked to each other about things we liked and didn't like. But at the end of the movie is when the real discussion began. We both decided we enjoyed it and thought the elements that weren't in the book made it so it would be an interesting movie and able to compete with Divergent and Hunger Games.
Saturday morning I woke him up and told him it was time for him to shower and get ready. Robert is really difficult to wake up. Not as bad as my sister's husband but still pretty bad. He is super grumpy and does not like his sleep being disturbed. However since I had prepared him it wasn't too bad. Robert got ready and we headed to my parents to drop off Boston (this made Robert realize we weren't coming home... and I guess the fact that I made him pack a suitcase kinda gave it away...hmmm) The whole time he was asking, "where are we going? What are we doing! I just want to know!" After we left my parents I gave Robert his "Choose your own Adventure" Book.
The first choice was, "dive into fun" or "explore our backyard." He chose the first so we went to the Aquarium. It was our first time going to the new building. We knew we wanted to take our time and really enjoy it. We went and saw a 4D movie about Coral Reefs which was pretty beautiful and enjoyed the touch pools and petting sharks and stink rays. It was awesome. The shark tunnel is pretty cool too! (Nothing compared to the shark tank at the Point Defiance Zoo in Seattle but pretty close)
After lunch he had the choices of "choose your own" or "travel far far far far far far far far far far far far far away." He chose the second and we ended up at the Planetarium. It's awesome that we have a free planetarium here in SLC. It's not amazing but it is pretty entertaining. They had changed it since last time I went and had machines where you could make wind tunnels. We probably had way too much fun doing that.
Next option, "do something cheesy" or "enjoy something sweet." Robert chose cheesy and we ended up at the cheesecake factory where we shared a slice of cheesecake totaling 1700 calories. Good thing we split it and we did a lot of walking. The seating at this restaurant is way creepy/uncomfortable. You are basically sharing a table with everyone by you. We ended up sitting next to a couple traveling from Australia. It was really fun we talked to them for a good thirty minutes and probably annoyed our waiter because we were too busy talking for either of us to order. After we ate our cheesecake we strolled around the mall and played in the Windows store.
It was 4:30 so I gave him another option, "fall in love again" or "keep the party going." He decided to fall in love again so we went to our hotel. I booked us the October room at the Armstrong Mansion Bed and Breakfast in SLC. It was incredibly cheesy but wonderful at the same time. We had a large tub with jets, a king size bed and wifi. It was great. We decided to relax a bit before dinner and we watched a movie and cuddled.
The final decision was Rodizio Grill or Christopher's Steak House. I know I had clever sayings but now I don't remember what they were. We ended up going to Rodizio and enjoying endless amounts of delicious Brazilian style meat and salad bar. We love the Rodizio in SLC it is a million times better than the one we have here in American Fork. Robert got his free slice of birthday flan and they sang to him in Portuguese.
We were supposed to have a last decision but we were too full and tired from our busy day to do anything else.
We went back to our hotel and took a bubble bath and relaxed. We both fell asleep incredibly fast that night. In the morning we were greeted with a buffet style breakfast. There was fruit salad, quiche, apple strudel, homemade granola, raspberry trifle and cinnamon rolls. It was amazing. Totally worth it.
After breakfast we got ready for the day and continued north to Lagoon. Robert loves roller coasters and I am okay with them but not totally thrilled. We got there shortly after it opened and walked onto a lot of rides. Unfortunately, we did not fit on some together (which we are working on and will fix before next year) but we still had fun. We left the park around 4:30 after spending time in the water park section. We were so tired after doing water slides.
We drove home and picked up Boston from my parents. We arrived just in time for dinner at their house. We enjoyed a lovely Cuban meal and then continued on our way home. Robert slept like a baby that night but of course after being the sun all day I ended up sick. Thankfully, I was able to take Monday off to recover.
Overall we had a wonderful birthday weekend and Robert said he is already planning for my birthday next year to make sure it is better than his. I set the bar high for the future but that's okay birthdays only happen once a year. :-)
