Tag: Birthday

Birthday Bocce

harkinchronicles

Another post about bocce…but it’s also about my birthday…sorrynotsorry (also totally going to write about playoffs!). Bocce is on Tuesdays unless it gets rained out and it just so happened that my birthday was on Tuesday this year! I was actually nervous that it was going to get rained out so I made back up birthday plans to have dinner with my family at Koo…not gonna lie, I was really hoping to get some sushi. But the storms stayed to the south of us so bocce was on!

James, my parents, Matt, Ashley, and Maranda came to watch my game and eat and hang out. Maranda’s mom joined us later. My team won the game! Birthday luck! (Seriously…I needed it…I’ve dropped down to 4th place!) We watched the other teams’ games and when they were done, we played our own game. James and I were on one team and Matt, Ashley, and Maranda were another team – their team won. Matt was REALLY good – I told him that he needs to change his work schedule next summer so that he can join the league. 

Justin and the whole 440 crew always treat me so well for my birthday. One year they brought me a cannoli with a candle in it. This year they brought me a whole plate of fried dough pieces covered in powdered sugar! And then Justin came outside with a plate of shots…of Rumpleminz (a peppermint liquor). I’m not a fan so Maranda had to finish my shot for me. 

And that wraps up my birthday celebrations! Overall one of the best birthdays yet…I think I mentioned before that I have horrible luck and have had some pretty crummy birthdays. Lately that hasn’t been an issue so I’m pretty happy.

Until our next adventure!

It’s a Birthday Party!

harkinchronicles

My birthday falls at a weird time of the year. It’s August so it’s right before school starts and everybody’s trying to get that last bit of summer in by going on vacation. Including my own family – there were several birthdays growing up that we were on vacation or getting ready to leave for vacation. I know as adults most people WANT to go on vacation for their birthday but as a kid, all I wanted was to have a birthday party at school like all the other kids! The few times I did try to have a party around my birthday, a lot of my friends couldn’t make it because they were on vacation. Once I was an adult and working in ResLife, my birthday fell during RA training so I was constantly working and rarely got a day or evening off that I could celebrate away from students. (I still work at a college now but I get nights and weekends off which is GLORIOUS.) Also – weird just me thing – I have allergies that always start around my birthday and until we figured out that it was allergies and I could take Claritin or something, I was always sick for my birthday.

Since we just had a big party for Maranda, I didn’t really have the energy to put into another large, festive, themed gathering so instead I just opted for a casual cookout and bonfire at our house. Most of my close friends were able to make it and Ashley brought her kids. Kinley is two and a half now and was running all over yelling “AUNT AMANDA!!!” anytime she couldn’t see me. Sidenote – never realized how many large rocks there were in the yard until a toddler was tumbling all over the place. For once the weather wasn’t unbearably hot so later at night, we all ventured into the house and sat around the table chatting. Eventually we went down to the bar for a few more drinks before coming home and watching murder shows. Completely excellent casual birthday party! 10/10 would do again!

Until our next adventure!

Jake’s Birthday

harkinchronicles

Jake’s birthday was on May 31st which was the same day we went to the Yankee’s game. We thought we were going to miss out on the celebration but the game ended superquick and we were back on the road and heading home at around the same time the group was just getting to Bull and Barrel. We texted them when we were about 15 minutes out and met up with everybody there.

Bull and Barrel is a large country-themed bar just over the New York state line. They brew their own beer (the blueberry is my favorite!) and they have a mechanical bull in the middle of the room. I can’t ride the bull due to a neck injury (and let’s be real, I make a fool out of myself enough each day…I don’t need to add more opportunities to do so) but some of our friends rode the bull! I tried to get some pictures and videos but it was pretty dark. The guy in charge of the mechanical bull even let Jake ride it again after he fell off the first time.

Birthday Boy Jake

After we were done at Bull and Barrel, everybody came back to our house to hang out in a quieter setting. We stayed up wayyy too late and it definitely reminded me of a Friday night from when I was younger!

Until our next adventure!