Princess Birthday

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! 

Have you ever had that moment when you can't get the day of the week right? For example, for some reason your mind won't let go of the illusion that today is Friday when in reality it's a Wednesday? That's how my birthday went. Sean must have spent a good 5 minutes convincing me I was 22, because I was sure I was 23. And then he had to keep reminding me. Why on earth would a girl as young as myself not be able to acknowledge her 22nd birthday? Is it the pregnancy brain? Do I secretly wish I was older? No. The blame lies entirely on Taylor Swift. For the entire year I've flipped on my radio and listened to T-swizzle sing about how 22 is all about dressing up like hipsters, falling in love with strangers, and partying with your girlfriends all day. For an even better image of how I should be spending this year, check out the priceless video.

Anyhow, you can understand my confusion. Highlights of my typical day include choosing what color of tent to wear with my yoga pants, checking the mail, and musing over how we're gonna dress kiddo for Halloween (Pinterest has some GREAT ideas.) I was thinking about it, and in the context of the world today (and by "world" I mean everywhere but Utah) there are many who would think it's an insane mistake to "throw my life away" by getting married young and having a baby so fast, when I could be enjoying my Taylor Swift time. But as I sat down just now to blog about my birthday, I just wanted to share with all of you (and anyone who happens to come across my blog) how incredibly blessed I feel to be in this awesome place, with the awesome guy, having this awesome baby! I don't think I could possibly be happier doing anything else. And the way I see it,  I'll have plenty of time to join the hipster movement as soon as I can fit into skinny jeans again.

So about my birthday. 

It really started on Friday when I got my first card from my parents! It was so sweet of them to send a monetary gift on top of the maternity clothes my mom has already gotten me. My mom reminded me in the card that I could use this to say, buy a treat for my birthday. What a concept! In my mind, in order to accomplish spending instead of saving, this money had to be gone before my bank account ever knew it existed. So, I just let the pregnancy cravings take over and we immediately ran over to the nearest Twisty Treat and bought the biggest, cherry-dipped ice cream cones on the menu. Thanks Mom and Dad!

On my actual birthday, I enjoyed some nice phone calls from family and a great skype session with Ryan, Steph, and the boys. Sean made me a nice brunch and that was about all I expected of our day, since he was threatened not to plan any activities or dinner until next month when we actually have the money to do so. I should know by now that Sean's interpretation of "don't spend money on me" is "tread extra carefully as you spend money on me". After telling me an hour in advance that I had to be ready to leave, he avoided my fury by refusing to tell me what we were doing so that I couldn't gauge the monetary value. Then he assured me that not only did he get a deal, he spent the money weeks ago, so it won't be missed now! Then he made sure that whatever we were doing was gleefully nerdy enough that I couldn't resist compliance once we got there. Darn him. It worked. Before I even had time to get angry we were pulling into a castle.

Sean decided to take me to Medieval Times so that I could be a princess on my birthday. For those of you who haven't heard of this place (there are a few locations throughout the country) allow me to walk you through this experience. 

First, there's the village.

This is basically a replica of a bunch of Medieval buildings full of actual medieval artifacts from Spain. We thought the blacksmith's house and the torture chamber were the coolest parts. This is really only to pique your interest in case you get there too early to be admitted into the castle.

When the time is right, you can enter the King's gate. The entrance is complete with a drawbridge and moat. 

Everyone gathers in a large entryway, where a herald welcomes you on behalf of the King. You are given crowns which designate you as lords and ladies of certain realms of the kingdom. Each realm is then invited to be seated in the banquet hall. 

And when they say banquet hall, they mean THIS

Because this is Medieval times, the place settings are made out of metal and there is no silverware to be found.

Your server will introduce himself and explain that the serfs and wenches would be bringing out the feast shortly. There is a set menu with several courses that are served throughout the night. But that's not all.

While you are busy tearing away with your bare hands at the entire chicken that's been placed on your plate, you are invited by the king to enjoy a tournament in which the bravest knights in all the land would be competing to the DEATH.

I think you get the picture now. If you have a Medieval Times anywhere near you, GO.

Anyway, before the tournament began, there was a nice little show with a bunch of horses. Between the lighting and the speed, we weren't able to get many clear pictures, but here are a few.

A knight demonstrating the bond between him and his horse

The King, the herald, and some knights

The champion of our realm was the Green knight. We cheered him on valiantly the entire night.

The jousting and fighting was awesome! Though there was some definite choreography going on for safety's sake, this was no joke! They brought down nets to protect from the splintering wood of the lances, and at times their swords would hit so hard there were sparks flying! It was pretty cool. Sean took a really great video of this, but I think it was too long because it wouldn't upload.

Sean made me wear this crown the rest of the day.

As if all of this wasn't entertainment enough, the nice guy next to us was drinking double vodka martinis all night, and took it upon himself to give us less-than-appropriate marital advice from his 27 years of experience. Ironically enough it really helped complete the primitive ambiance.

So ya, don't judge us, we had a blast.

We were also surprised to learn that my cousin Stacey and her family were spontaneously in town! We went over to their hotel after dinner for a swim and fun chat, which was so much fun! I think I just really really loved seeing family out here. Thank you everyone for making my birthday awesome even from far away! 

Oh! And if you're wondering how the bump is progressing...

Awkward selfie! I promise I'll clean my mirror as soon as we have Windex.