My Birthday

Admittedly, my birthday is not usually my favorite day of the year...I know...it's crazy.  But this year Jason and the kids and my friends really helped me get over some of my issues and seriously made it one of the best birthdays I can remember.

   

After sleeping in (Saturday birthdays are always better) we found this surprise when we opened the front door.  Holly had wrapped our front door and left a big note that said, "The first thing you need to do on your birthday is unwrap and AWESOME day."  It was such a fun surprise and she told me we can all copy her cute idea.  There was juice and donuts and flowers on the doorstep and it really was just the beginning of an "AWESOME day!"  As we sat together downing the donuts, Jason got a sneaky twinkle in his eye and said, "Do you guys want to go somewhere?"  Then he told the kids to get their backpacks and put in a change of clothes, underwear, pajamas and a swimsuit.  I'm not kidding.  Within an hour or two we were out of the house and on our way for an adventure.

(The best part of the story is that Jason took care of everything.  He called and canceled our game-playing plans for that night.  He emailed the baseball coach and told him we were going to miss the game.  He found a substitute for our primary class and rearranged our schedule for dinner so that we could escape for 24 hours and celebrate as a family.)

We crossed the Golden Gate bridge and drove up the coast a couple of hours to Bodega Bay.  It's a tiny little town full of charm.  The fact that two out of the three stores we drove by were selling all kinds of kites was our first clue that the winds were going to be out in full force.  And I have to say, those Bodega Bay-ans are die hard beach goers.  They did not even flinch at the weather.  You should have seen them jumping in the waves and hanging out like it was 100 degrees.  I'm not so impressive.  Still, the kids loved playing in the sand and Nate even built a lean-to for us to keep warm.  

   

  

   

After buying some stale salt water taffy and eating a few too many french fries, we drove another 30 minutes to stay at a hotel in Sebastopol, CA.  The hot tub and the yummy mexican restaurant next door were the highlight of our stay.  Jason and I snuck away after the younger kids went to bed so that Adam could fall asleep in the car.  (The pack-n-play was not working for him this trip.)  We got ice cream and had a chance to talk in a quiet car.  Nate read in the hotel room and took care of things while we were away.

Sunday was a quiet morning with a hotel breakfast, playing cards and packing up.  We drove home along the coast and even though the Golden Gate Bridge will always be my favorite place to visit, we saw some of the most gorgeous parts of California and some happy cows that I will never forget.  We came home to spend the evening bbq-ing with dear friends and eating melt-in-your-mouth chocolate mousse cake.  This was exactly what I wanted for my birthday.  The rest of the weekend was just what I wanted and I didn't even know to ask for it.  Now I know.  We had such a fun time escaping as a family.  I can't wait to do it again.

  

You don't have to try and count how many fingers we are holding up.
There definitely weren't enough candles to do the job.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this day, week, month so memorable and special.