We celebrated Husband’s Halfy Birthday on Wednesday. He’s officially closer to 40 than 20, and looks better than ever.

We dined on the best lemon chicken recipe and he got a new snow shovel and bag of salt. Little Man and I were tricky, disguised new honey do’s as gifts.

I also hosted a visiting teaching breakfast this week. It’s a fun excuse to throw a party in the morning and make yummy breakfasty-foods.

Last night, Husband and I had a night on the town. We…

stopped into Backstage Coffee for a sugar-free steamer,

I got to wear my new shoes,

and we saw Bring it On the musical.

It was surprisingly cute and really entertaining. We {I} thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

So, Husband was in a national, presentation contest with Cisco. He worked hard and kicked butt. He made it to round 3 of 5. Rock Star.

With each round, he got a monetary award and a perk. Round 1’s extra perk was a fancy dinner out on the town. We chose Capital Grille. Because we don’t drink alcohol, we made up for that expenditure by ordering appetizers, extra lobster tail and dessert.

Here’s the picture diary of the best.meal.ever. We highly recommend this A to Z.

{Appetizer per waiter’s suggestion: House Made Mozzarella Wrapped with House-Cured Pancetta warmed with Balsamic Tomatoes and Basil and Cheese Crostini…out of this world}

{Capital Grille Chopped Salad}

{Kona Crusted Strip Steak with Shallot Butter for me}

{Porterhouse Steak with Grilled Lobster for Husband}

{Per Waiter’s suggestion: Au Gratin Potatoes}

{Lobster Mac n’ Cheese}

{Italian Cheese Cake with Vanilla Crust, Bruleed top with Berry Compote}

It was Divine. We would go back just for the pancetta-mozzarella, lobster mac n’ cheese and cheesecake…and that’s saying something because the steaks were out of this world. Thank you Husband for working so hard and letting me enjoy the perks too!

…and then we flew home to see our Little Man. I should mention he was having a blast with the best Nana ever. They had a major outing every day. She kept him so busy, one day he said, “How bout stay home and play Nana. OK?”

Thank you to our wonderful families!

Our last and final day was a day at sea and probably one of my favorite days of the trip. Husband lost a bet and woke up in the wee hours of the morning to reserve us a lounge bed in the adults only serenity area. Pure Heaven. I spent 10 straight hours out there and read a book cover-to-cover. To top it off, the ship was highlighting a special drink where they took a fresh pineapple, hulled it out, blended the fruit with a pina colada and poured it back into the pineapple. So, so, so good.

{Yes, that’s the ocean in the background}

Grand Turk was beautiful and remote. There were people swimming in the water right next to the pier where the ship was docked. J&J, Dan, Tammy, Husband & I went on a snorkeling excursion. We love snorkeling.

{We ended the day by lounging on the beach and Husband caught a crab}

{That night was another formal night}

{We rounded out the evening with some karaoke and closing the night at the piano bar…one of our favorite things to do on the ship}

One of the things that spurred this cruise, was Husband’s younger brother, Jeff, serving his mission in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, he lived in different areas on the island other than San Juan but it was still fun to see him on his island.

{Blue cobblestones from Spaniards’ ship ballast}

{Pina coladas at the place that claims to be the birth place of my favorite drink}

Our fourth day, we stopped in La Romana, Dominican Repbulic. All the siblings stuck together. We really didn’t know what we were going to do, but we lucked out and got a great taxi driver. He dropped us off at his favorite beach: Dominica Beach. We lounged, played and ate a local lunch at a beach hut. One of the shop owners was on the beach trying to recruit shoppers. He gave me a really cute beaded necklace for free. He said, “In Dominica, a gift is a real gift.”

Next, he took us to Casa de Campos where the rich and famous like to vacay.

{Where Jay Z & Beyonce vacay…I’m sure Blue Ivy will be joining them}

We finished the day by visiting Altos de Chavon. It was designed as an artist retreat and the chapel is where Michael Jackson & Lisa Marie Presley were married. I loved the architecture and the jungle lusciousness.

Dominican Republic was our favorite unexpected gem.

Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary to my Love!

Day 3 was our 5th wedding anniversary and a day at sea. We spent it lounging in the adults only serenity area and got pina coladas. We splurged on a couples massage and loved it.

That night was a formal night. It was fun to get all dressed up and eat lobster!

{Alligator Fritters}

When we arrived in port, Nassau was celebrating Junkanoo (their form of carnival). Dan, Tammy, Husband and I stuck together and headed for the beach…the wrong beach, my fault. We caught another taxi back into town and it turned out to be good timing because we got to see the Junkanoo parade that had been going all night and was just about to end. It was pretty incredible.

{There’s a guy underneath this float, carrying it on his shoulders.}

After the parade, we went to the right beach, Cabbage beach. We camped out for the day: reading, playing speed miton, relaxing, etc.

{Happy 5 Years!}

We loved the yummy dinners in the dining room all together. We ended each night with the warm chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate, so frothy and yummy.