Happy Birthday, Michael Wagler

 

Michael had to be at a conference on his birthday so we celebrated a little early this year.  I usually get "birthday week" so I thought Michael should probably get one too!  We started off birthday week with a fun day at the fair with the boys (more on that later) and then I arranged for Jim and Marcia to watch the boys that evening so we could go BACK to the fair without the kids.  We always went to the fair when we were first dating and actually have always been to the fair since we have been together.  A fun fact about Michael, he has never missed an Iowa State Fair.  Ever.  That is a lot of JR donuts! :)  So we headed out the fair like young kids do and had an awesome time.  We laughed, we ate and we drank.  Oh, and we walked and walked and people watched too.  It was so fun and one of the best dates we have been on in a long time.  Here is a little recap of what we did...

We rode the bus to fair from the Capitol and of course got stopped by a train.  We giggled because if the boys were with us, they would have been freaking out.  Instead we sat "patiently" in our seats for the train to pass by!  We talked about how many things we would see that night that would remind us of the boys.  There are A LOT of things that remind us of those sweet boys.  We definitely didn't talk about them the whole time but it is fun to see the world through their eyes. 

After we made it to the fair grounds, we headed straight for the Cattleman's Beef Quarters for the best steak sandwich ever.  We found a curb to sit on and started our people watching and eating.  Michael got a DOUBLE steak sandwich (for free)...we decided it was birthday luck and I was only a little jealous.  Have you had one of these sandwiches?  Oh my,  definitely my favorite food at the fair!    (Michael said later that he couldn't sit on the curb again, it hurt is back...we are getting old!)

We stopped by the Craft Beer Tent and picked up a beer package.  We got to sample a few and then made an informed decision of what we wanted.  We hit the ISU booth and got matching wrist tattoos (that I had to get off before we went to church the next day) and then headed to the Bud Tent to see some old state fair friends and check out Standing Hampton.  Thankfully, they went on break right when we got there because it was SO LOUD!  Yes, I just said that out loud.  We are officially old BUT we did get to get up on stage with Doug and rock out a little bit.  I took the lead on the guitar and Michael hit the keyboard and vocals.  :)

We noticed the sun was dropping fast, so we sprinted up the hill the catch the sun setting on the city while riding the Sky Glider (another fair fav).  It was beautiful and I just love snuggling close to Michael, taking it all in.  We got to see the butter cow and walked down Midway, vowing not to take the boys down there for a LONG time.  Talk about overload...wowza. 

We also stopped by to see if our hometown bacon made the top of the ranks...it was up there along with all of the other meats.  If you haven't had Hastings bacon, you haven' t had bacon.  Seriously.   We did the giant slide and then we finished up our night with a nightcap.  Michael had a yummy beer from an Okoboji  brewery and I had THEE BEST LEMONADE EVER.  It was so good-perfect amount of sweet and lemons.  MMMM...I wish I had one right now!! 

The bus dropped us off at this beauty.  Isn't she grand?
After this view, we heading down to the East Village to walk around off some of the food we had!  It was a perfect way to end the night!


 

 Birthday week continued with birthday lunch at Michael's office on Tuesday.  I picked up one of our favorite lunch spots, Gazolis and packed the boys a picnic.  We had fun being loud at Daddy's office and then headed for a walk on the river walk. 

This might be one of my most favorite pictures ever.  Ever.  Michael is such an amazing Daddy  to these boys and I feel like this picture captures his crazy love for them. 

 

Speaking of crazy...these boys.  I LOVE their expressive faces, their crazy actions and I just  love them.  They are so full of energy and love...I am so thankful that we get to "do life" with them in it.  On a side note, Ellie mentioned that in the top right picture, Hutchinson has some Donald Trump hair going on...I think she is spot on with this analysis!

We had a party for Michael at home that night.  Finnean drew a picture and we made a top ten list of the reasons of why we love him so much, well Finnean told me what to write.  It was  pretty darn cute.  Michael loves spaghetti and homemade meatballs, so we made that for dinner and of course, we had to have birthday treats.  Finnean helped make them and we had to taste test them first. :) Ohhh...I just love the smiles in this picture.  I think they sum up how much fun we had celebrating Michael this week.  Here's to another year full of love and adventures.  We love you, Michael Wagler...thank you for being so good to us!