Annie made this awesome Truffle Mac N’ Cheese.

Birthday cake. I think we almost kissed here. Pretty intense.

Our wives got us a beer piñata! The only tree we could find to hang it up was in the front of the house. One month living in this neighborhood, and I’m the guy with a beer piñata.

The other birthday boy, looking like a prisoner of war.

Here I am, using my Jedi skills to size up my target.

As long as I was going to be embarrassed in front of my neighbors, why not go all out and have a good time? I had no idea I could jump so high.

Just because we broke into the beer can doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. Tape it back up and put the candy back in there!

There was beer pong.

There was also flip cup.

The losers got spankings.

The crappy gift exchange brought out 20 lbs. of taco sauce.

It also brought out a lot of light sabers.

There was time with the cousins.

We even threw a Hannah  Montana themed party for a very special person.

And there she is.

I saw UCLA lose to Washington. Got a great program with good years ahead.

I learned that nuns really like boba.

I don’t have any pictures from New Year’s Eve that don’t have someone looking a little drunk, passed out, or just raging. Those pictures will remain under wraps. I personally behaved this year, unlike some other years past.

Here are the Boy Scouts working to put a tent up. Harrison is earning his hipster merit badge.

I thought we were going to do this all weekend.

I got a Gorillapod for my birthday, and this is my first use of it. This is what it’s like to be my beer bottle.

Instead we were tricked into going on a hike.

Blue skies over golden fields of fuel for the next fire.

Boooooooooring!

Men cooking meat over the fire.

Hanging out by the fire.

Roasting marshmallows over the fire is a must for camping.

My birthday celebration spilled over into Harrison’s a little bit. These light sabers proved to be great lanterns.

Yes, my friends are nerds too.

I told you I got really into fish. It took me three months of having a 10 gallon tank to upgrade to 55 gallons. This is what it started as, but it’s quite different now.

Michelle and I took a trip to China with some friends. So many Chinese people, but there they just call them people.

We got into to the usual vacation hijinx.

This isn’t China. This is the San Diego Zoo.

The very next weekend we went down to San Diego again to Sea World.

I had a great karaoke/bowling birthday party.

I gave Michelle a great gift of us.

I got pretty good at Wii Bowling.

So begins the life of a boring person. Eh. That’s all relative. I think some of this stuff is still really cool. When I hit thirty I’ll do puzzles and play board games.

The visits to D&B with sticky hand activities continued.

I took my first trip to the Midwest and got my first taste of White Castle. Eh.

Vegas trip. Booooooooooze!

My 25th birthday. Cheers!

Unfortunately this birthday taught me a lesson. I am not invincible.

I wasn’t the only one to learn a lesson.

We learned we couldn’t hang out like we used to back in college.

Michelle’s birthday.

Michelle and I looking hat-tastic.

The other birthday boy. His hat says, “All hail the birthday princess!”

Sausages are one of the best, simple foods.

We brought out extra hats for those that didn’t choose to participate voluntarily.

Hats all around.

My cousin always steals the show when it comes to theme parties.

Oliver Twist?

Cheeeeeeeese! 8 beers, 2 Jager Bombs, some mystery shot from the waitress that looked like Heather Graham, and a Scotch later. I had no idea the human body could hold so much liquid.

The night ended at Fred 62 with Michelle and I falling asleep on each other while everyone else ate. I am old. Thanks to all my friends, who came out. I had a blast.

The lights have a cool yellow appearance. Then you realize it’s all the grease coming from the grills that has turned them yellow.

Flock of Seagulls and teased bangs were no match for sweat and Korean BBQ oils.

Kyung’s birthday gift to me. If you don’t know what these are, you are far too young.

Oregon Trail, anyone? Space/King’s/Police Quest? Maybe a little Leisure Suit Larry?

Stuffed and sweating meat out of our pores.

After stuffing our faces with meat, we headed over to Miss T’s Barcade. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this hidden gem, it is a dive bar with 80′s arcade games. They serve beer, soju cocktails, and sake bombs. Careful with the sake bombs, though. The bartender didn’t know how to make one at first, and he gave me a glass half full of beer and half full of sake. That is what I like to call a Nagasake Bomb. The place is really cool, and since no one else was around, it was like we rented out the place to ourselves.

A little bit of Joust to start off the night.

The whole bar is singing happy birthday, but it looks like we’re just singing to ourselves.

Kyung brought an LED toy that said, “Let’s Party” when spun around. It’s being spun backwards here. I found twenty pictures of this thing on my camera in the morning.

Pretty much the gayest picture we could’ve taken all night.

The only defense I can give for that last picture is the Nagasake Bomb. I went home and crashed right away. I’m pretty sure the right side of Michelle’s bed smells like Korean BBQ now. I woke up a little bit late to head over to Harrison’s plae to start smoking some meat.

With the heat wave, this pool looked so inviting.

This is why we’re here. This is why we’re here.

Grilled to perfection.

Wasp nest on the basketball hoop. Every time someone hit the rim or backboard, they would fly around and land again, only to be disturbed by the next shot.

My first batch of smoked ribs. You can see the meat came off the bones when I picked them up with a pair of tongs.

Time approves of my ribs. They were good, but I want to do better next time.

This weekend was spent gorging myself with deliciously cooked meats and sweating out those same meats from my pores. This is the good life.