Doug's 35th Birthday...A Weekend Full of Surprises

Doug turned 35 on Friday!!  Doesn't that sound like such a handsome age.  I think so.  Doug had a great attitude about his birthday this year and wasn't too glum about getting another year older.  I like to think about all he's accomplished, all the blessings he's been afforded, all the years we've had together, the positive part of age when it comes time to face the facts that we are indeed getting older.  I was particularly excited about his birthday this year because I remembered well in advance to come up with a plan for it and take extra care to celebrate this 35th birthday with some special surprises.  The surprises in the beginning were fun to come up with, coordinate and anticipate, but towards the end I was just a nervous wreck about how it all would plan out, so I think it might be awhile before I try to pull a fast one over on my best friend. =)

On Friday morning, I got up and made a super yummy sour cream coffee cake.  When it was fresh out of the oven I decorated it with the tiniest bit of cocoa powder, cocao nibs and red sugar sprinkles.  It turned out to be festive and delicious! 

The day before Koen had made a beautiful card for Doug, but in the morning I brought up crayons and paper to the boys' room so during their playtime they could work on some more pictures for Doug.  Koen made a sign and Tavin made a card (Koen helped).  

We had a lovely little breakfast celebrating together.  The boys were so excited it was Doug's birthday (they had been singing "Happy Birthday" for an hour already!).

In my card, I told Doug that I had arranged for a night for us downtown and had babysitters all set to come over at 2pm.  He had sort of already figured that part out, but he was surprised to find out that I had also been working on finding us some Pens tickets for the game that evening.  I figured that if there was a home game downtown and we were staying downtown, I had to try my best to get him there.  Thankfully it worked (thanks to a good friend making a lot of calls on our behalf) and around 3pm we found out we had tickets to the game!  The plan worked!  Koen was perplexed by the whole plan since he wasn't going, but he eventually figured it out and was happy for his Daddy and Mommy getting to go on a date to the hockey game. =)

Doug got a special birthday gift...a fresh blanket of snow.  This now 35-year-old is really just a little boy at heart and loves some fresh snow to enjoy.  He got right outside with Koen and Tavin, for shoveling, cleaning off the car and a little sledding.  Penn and I watched from the comfort of the cozy living room couch.

After weeks of spending most days in the house (Koen's Christmas vacation has been so long!  We thought he was to go back on Thursday, but we were mistaken and he doesn't go back until Monday if the weather permits!), we thought it'd be fun to go out to lunch with the boys.  We went to MadMex on S. Highland as we all love the food and the kids meal are one of the best deals in the city (and healthy too!).  Doug is such a good Daddy, I was happy that the boys and I could shower him with so much birthday celebrating.  Here's Penn trying to get him to eat a pickup truck, maybe that's not exactly how to celebrate a birthday, Penn.

The big brothers.

The classic cheese face!  Love it!

After lunch we put the little guys down for naps and we hurried around with final preparations for our evening away.  At 2pm, Allison showed up (her husband would join her after work, we wanted a couple on the job of all 3 overnight so as not to completely overwhelm someone!).  I was really nervous about Penn being surprised after his nap with a new face, but he had no problem surprisingly (and refreshingly!).  Allison sent me this pic via text to prove it.  Yep, he looks fine!

I had left the sitters with a two page document for 20 hours of sitting (12 of which would be sleeping).  Perhaps a little over the top, but that didn't stop me from remembering about 20 things and sending them via text.  Thankfully Zack and Allison had everything totally under control and handled everything beautifully.  We were also so happy to find out that Koen and Tav were on good behavior most of the time too.  Such a blessing to have caring and competent friends to stay with the boys so that we could have a night away!  And it was a super fun night.  We got to our hotel in the afternoon and even had time to rent a movie.  When was the last time we watched a movie together in the afternoon?!?  Such a fun treat!  Then soon after that we headed over to the Consol Center to grab a bite to eat before "the drop of the puck."  We had good seats and enjoyed the game.  Here's a quick glimpse of our view.  Such an impressive arena!  My favorite part of the game was that the Pens won by several goals so that meant that Doug was super happy and not all bummed out.  Thanks, Pens, for making sure to win on Doug's birthday!  (They must have been aware of my plan).

On our way back to the hotel (walking in wind chills in the teens), Doug mentioned how he wished we had something sweet to finish off the night.  Well, wouldn't you know awesome wifey thought ahead and had his favorite kind of cupcakes waiting in the hotel room!  I was so excited that I had thought ahead.  Doug has always loved red velvet cake, well at least since I met him in college, and specifically for his birthday, so I knew exactly what to get.  It was a big hit, especially since we were both craving a little dessert.

The next morning was fun because we didn't set an alarm and there were no kids to wake us up.  Such a refreshing morning!  We were pretty lazy, but I got out the door around 9:30am for a hair appointment down the street.  Doug got to stay and read by himself (this guy loves his alone time, that on its own could've been a birthday present).  Then we met up at Meat & Potatoes on Penn Ave. for brunch.  And what a delicious brunch it was!!  If you haven't been there yet, try it.  So good!  After brunch, it was time to go back to reality.  We picked Koen up from a friend's house on the way home and then got back to the house around 1:30pm in time to lay Penn down for his nap.  He was happy to see me, but I figured he would start crying like he usually does to get sympathy for me leaving him.  But he totally didn't care one bit.  He gave me a big hug and then went back to Allison and Zack to keep playing.  I think we found some new favorite sitters for Penn!! =)  Doug ended up whisking Koen and Tavin back out the door for a charity hockey game at the Consol Center for a few hours in the afternoon.  So the birthday fun just continued on for them.  Tavin was so excited to be included in the outing.  

Little did Doug know that this was not the close of the birthday fun.  Weeks ago I had invited several close friends to come over and surprise Doug and then have pizza, hang out, play games, just a simple night together.  I wondered if Doug would read into the cleaning I did that afternoon, or the fact that I was so nervous about pulling it off that I was shaking, but he didn't.  I knew that for sure when he changed into his pajama sweatpants in the process of putting the boys to bed.  Well, he was in for a surprise!  I had our friends all out waiting in their cars at 7:15pm, then I texted them once the boys were down (which was actually early and at 7:15pm) and had them come around to the back door.  Then a few minutes later I let them in and we tramped into the living room singing "Happy Birthday" with balloons and everything.  It was simple, but it was definitely a surprise.  I was so happy to really show him that I thought ahead and wanted him to feel loved and supported and special.  It worked and we had a very fun night sharing a meal, catching up and playing games with some of our best friends.  Thanks to Nate, Megan, Hilary, Alex and Mark and Meaghan for being a part of the surprise.  It might just be one of the best nights we will have in 2014, it's going to be hard to top it, that's for sure!

Happy Birthday, Douglas.  Love you!!!