Thirty.

It has finally happened. I am now OLD.

I actually had my birthday party 2 weeks ago, as a joint affair with Matt Armstead and Tara. Pretty much we just hung out at our place and played games all day. The original idea was to get a game of kickball going, but the weather didn't end up being great for that.

This Saturday (my actual birthday) was interesting. Sarah's grandma got tickets to VeggieTales live at our church, so we took the kids and cousin Alex to see that (after spending an hour at Burger King first.) I enjoy the VeggieTales cartoon, but the live show was, in all honesty, pretty lame. The kids had fun, though. After that we headed down to Red Wing and played at a brand-new playground there. Then Sarah's parents took me to my birthday dinner at Fiest Mexicana, the best mexican restaurant there is. Just before we left, to my embarrassment, they had the waitstaff sing "Happy Birthday" to me, which I got wear a monstrous (and uncomfortable) sombrero through. The good part? Free flan. Tasty.

After that, we went back to Sarah's parents' house, and had cake and I opened my present from my parents: a Nintendo Wii. What? Wow. I was not expecting that at all. There goes all semblance of productivity at my house!

The rest of the birthday haul:

Games:
Go, from Matt & Becca
Alhambra: The Thief's Turn (expansion), from Lane & Sarah
Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries, from Matt Armstead
Catan: Traders & Barbarians (expansion), from Sarah & the kids

Books:
From Tara (via giftcard):
She Is the Darkness by Glen Cook
Water Sleeps by Glen Cook
Soldiers Live by Glen Cook
From Grandpa & Grandma Hawks (via cash):
Empire by Orson Scott Card
Star Wars: Allegiance by Timothy Zahn
Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
The Knight by Gene Wolfe

Other:
Transformers t-shirt, from Anita
Jelly Belly jelly beans, from Sam
Dead End, Meister, and Wheeljack Transformers Alternators toys, from Matt & Becca