Ryan's 39th birthday!

I haven't had a chance to tell you about Ryan's birthday! :) It was actually back on April 24th, but we were in the middle of our I CHOOSE YOU series then, so I didn't get to tell you!

For the past few years, we've gone to Tucano's to celebrate his birthday, but our last experience there was a little rough, so he wanted to try something different this year! That was fine with me! Also new this year: he took off work on his birthday! He's never done that before, and I have no idea why. I think everyone should get to have their birthday off work! :)

I had been planning and planning, trying to make the day special for him. He said he wanted to eat at Giordano's pizza, and we actually now have two locations in Indianapolis, so I knew that was our destination.  Weather permitting, I planned for us to explore part of the Monon Trail, because we've talked about doing that forever and just never have. And then I found the coolest thing. I discovered you can take tours of Lucas Oil Stadium. How fun would that be for a Colts fan??? You couldn't buy tickets ahead of time, the site said. You have to go to the stadium on the day and buy tickets there. So for over a month, that was the plan. I was so excited, and when I told him the itinerary, he was so excited.

Wife win!

About three days before his birthday, the weather forecast shifted abruptly from warm and sunny to cold and rainy, canceling our trail-walking plans. Womp womp.

The day before his birthday, I discovered some conflicting information online about the tours. (Mostly about the cost and the days they offered them.) I did not want any unpleasant surprises on his birthday, so I called the stadium to ask. The lady did not even let me finish my question before she cut me off and said, "We're not giving any tours this week. At all." Apparently someone had rented out the building for the week. I hung up the phone and literally melted into a sobbing pile of goo on our bedroom floor. I cried (so not even kidding) for a solid HOUR. Like projectile tears and the kind of wailing toddlers do when you wait for a breath, and the longer you wait, the louder you know it will be. THAT kind of crying. That tour was the crowning moment of his birthday celebration, and Miss Personality had just killed it without an ounce of remorse. I was done.

Ryan felt so bad about it and assured me all he really wanted was a day off to spend with me. I reminded him of the meltdown and told him maybe he should have new birthday goals. (HA!)

Soooooooooooooooooooooo...here was the way the day actually panned out!

* Ryan slept in, which he never does, and then he got up and opened his presents! He had saved a bunch of cards that had come in the mail so he could open them on the actual day, and he opened his present from me! I gave him his very own coffee bean roaster!

(One step closer to being fully self-sufficient on our coffee addiction!)

* We took the kiddos to school, and they were SO excited to see him in the car. They jumped in and took it upon themselves to sing Happy Birthday to him! (It was so cute.)

* Ryan loves a McGriddle, so we went through the McDonald's drive-thru to get one for his breakfast, and then we went to Starbucks so he could cash in his free drink. (You have to do that ON your actual birthday now, and we didn't want to risk being too full later in the day!)

* We headed to Indy and made a couple of errand stops on the way. By the time we got downtown, it was almost lunchtime, so we decided to find a parking place and go to Giordano's. Weird thing: almost all the downtown parking garages were completely full at noon on a Tuesday. We finally found one that had a handful of spots left and claimed one. On the seventh floor. WHAT!?!?

* We made it almost all the way down to the street when we noticed the sign that said to exit this garage, you have to pay at a kiosk, because no one works at the exit. So we climbed all the way back up to the car to get the ticket, and back down. Sigh. We had to walk a few blocks to get back to Giordano's, and on the way, we passed a gentleman having trouble with the newfangled parking meter, so good Samaritan Ryan stopped to help him.

Giordano's at last!

* It was blissfully slow inside, so it was nice and quiet for conversation and photo opps. I'd found a coupon online for a free appetizer, so we got that, and then we ordered a pizza (which we promptly ate over the course of four meals. Those are so huge!).

* They're not only huge, they're also heavy, and we wanted to walk around downtown Indy for a bit, so we climbed back up seven floors of the parking garage to put our leftover pizza in the car. We were thankful that although it was a chilly and rainy day, it wasn't pouring, so with umbrellas, we could comfortably walk around outside. And we did! Among our finds? American Ninja Warrior was about to film on the Circle, and Ryan wanted pictures with their trailer:

He found a little coffee shop (okay, Siri found it) called Pearings and we decided to go there for coffee and frozen yogurt. (And free WiFi and phone charging.) It was such a peaceful way to spend some time!

 This is the Instagram gallery wall I told you about in the Saturday Six last week. I think they had 3 or 4 of these in there, and I loved them all!

 From here on, I'd like my coffee served this way, please!

After that, we decided to come home and just enjoy some time there. I felt bad later that Ryan's official birthday dinner was leftover pizza, he never had any candles to blow out, and the only singing he heard was from the kids! (Whoopsie!) But he declared his day was fun, and I'm grateful for that! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYAN!!