Celebrating Ben’s 21st Year

And this my friends is how you celebrate a 21st birthday.

• Obnoxiously large alcoholic drink? Check!
• A gathering of 18 of your closest family and friends? Check!
• Generous rounds of shots all night? Check!
• A dueling piano / karaokee bar? Check!
• A hotel room you can safely stumble to at the end of the night? Check!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!!

Ben’s birthday had been a year in the making. When the youngest of four siblings turns 21 you have to do it right, right? Not only did we have the 6 members of our core family in town (a rarity that only happens on special occasions), we had aunts, uncles, cousins, significant others, etc. Heck, even Grandma made a special appearance (and she closed the bar down with us)!

We all started with a large dinner at Bubba Gumps at Universal’s CityWalk.

We had to make an early reservation so they could sit our large party, but thankfully we were seated right away without any problems.

I ordered a ShockTop to sip on during dinner.

I wanted a big pot of seafood for my meal, so I ordered the Steam Shellfish which came with clams, mussels, crab, and shrimp.

With fries instead of rice (as much as I try I just can’t seem to wrap my head around the idea of enjoying rice, it is quite honestly my least favorite side dish of all time)

There was the obligatory embarrassing restaurant birthday sing along.

And the obligatory post- 20 mile run chocolate chip cookie Sunday – O M G.

From there the night got a little crazy….

Let’s just say it’s called the ‘Magnum,’ you need at least 7 people to order it, and there’s rumors it has an entire bottle of Bacardi 151 inside.

Oh, and it’s Grandma approved.

Like I said, if you’re going to celebrate a 21st – Go Big or Go Home.

Plus, it helps when you make it a family affair.

The birthday boy had to call it an early night, but the rest of us kept the party going. It was nice having the hotel room to go back to afterwards and I’ll probably have ‘Sweet Caroline’ stuck in my head for weeks to come.

“Sweeetttt Caroline Bump Bum Bummmm Good times never seemed so good So Good So Good..”

Magically we were all up before 8:00 this morning (I blame my parents and their uncanny ability to wake naturally before the sun rises). With grumbly bellies we packed up the room and headed to a breakfast place nearby.

This caught my attention.

Quite possible the best Pumpkin Pancakes I’ve ever tasted.

With fruit.

I need a nap…. and maybe some advil…