Happy Birthday William! 74/365

Yesterday was William's Birthday. William is my funny and ever so serious husband, and friend. I usually try not to say things like "I'm married to my best friend" because I don't like to take the romantic love I feel for William out of our marriage, and that just doesn't sound romantic to me. But yeah, I don't know what I'd do without him. He's my partner in crime, my fellow adventurer and he's always cheering me on in all of my craziness--even if he is pretending to be appalled by my silliness. He keeps me grounded while I keep him silly and young. He's my biggest supporter and my champion. He's my rock and my sunshine. I love this man. I love this artist.

But enough of this mushy stuff. Let's see some pictures!

Here are some great shots of William when he was a kid. Miriam took some really amazing pictures of him growing up and it was really hard to pick just a few.

Apparently this is how fishermen size up their children.

William on his second birthday. Birthday's are very serious.

I just really love this picture. 

William and I when we were 5. Look at those smiles. It was destiny.

William graduates high school! Which is an accomplishment really since he never went to kindergarten.

So to celebrate this lovely man we had a day out and about. First Baby Girl and I took him out to breakfast. Ok, so really it was more like brunch because everyone should sleep-in on their Birthday.

Actually I really think that everyone should take off work on their birthdays. This was the first year I managed to convince William to that however, but I think he liked it and hopefully we can keep the tradition going. 

Also, you should have Ice Cream for breakfast on your birthday.  

William takes his ice cream very seriously.

After breakfast we drove to Nashville and went to Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Art Museum. 

Everything was in bloom and so so lovely. It was perfect that it was a little rainy because it meant we had the place almost all to ourselves.

We spent some time in the Japanese Garden where the cherry tree was in full bloom and looked heavenly. The whole ground was sprinkled with little pink peddles.

Then we walked the sculpture garden trail. We came upon a sculpture of some animals in a circle and Bonnie Rose spend 20 minutes going from each animal and petting it. I think she would have stayed longer but it was raining.

Then we found the a pet cemetery. We were guessing maybe they were dogs. They had funny names and short lives. The first one in the circle was born in 1928.

Even though it was raining, it was so beautiful to see everything blooming. Spring in Tennessee has so many bright and vibrant colors.

For William's birthday I let him play on his iPhone as much as he wanted. (I'm usually telling him to put the damn thing down as it's impossible to have a conversation with him when it's always in front of his face.) This is what he looked like all day long.

After Cheekwood we met up with Anandit and Albert one more time for dinner and had some wonderful Indian food. It was good to spend time with friends and especially with people who appreciate William. We made wishful plans to visit Shanghai with them someday.

When we got home we were very exhausted but there was still some birthday celebrating to do. Bonnie Rose helped her Nana back a cake, and licked the mixers, and then made a card for her Daddy.

We put 3 and 2 candles on the cake for 32.

William wanted a chocolate cake with lemon frosting on it. He made his own frosting and my mom made the cake. It's not a combination I would suggest trying. But the cake was good and the frosting was good...separately.

We ended a very long day with cards, gifts and cake and then we all fell into bed. I hope William had a good birthday and I hope he feels loved and appreciated. Because he is.

So that was the first day of celebrating William's birthday. We still have a whole weekend ahead of us for lots more celebrating, rain or shine. 

Happy Birthday William.