Best Birthday Ever!

My 28th birthday celebration began with a visit from my dear friend, Diane, and her two kids on the Wednesday before. It was so wonderful to catch up with her and to get our kids together. Her son, Andrew, was born a couple months after Anslie, and her daughter, Catherine, was born about a week after Zachary. So fun! The kids played together wonderfully, which was a gift in and of itself. Diane treated me to a scrumptious lunch at the Spicy Pickle and then she had to get her little family home. This is a picture of all four of the kids (Catherine in the 3rd row of my car so you can't see her) packed into my car with their carseats. Remind me never to have that many kids in carseats at one time! :)

My kids gave me the GREATEST gift ever, and that was Zac sleeping from 9:30pm-5:45am straight, and then going back to sleep after nursing until 8:00am, and Anslie sleeping in until 8:00am. I savored the scrumptious sleepy present and opportunity to get ready for the day without two unhappy kids underfoot.

Around 10am, my friend, Amberlyn, picked me up and treated me to bananas foster french toast. Yummy! We had fun chit chatting over breakfast without kids (our husbands were watching our kids for us). After breakfast, Amberlyn dropped me off at a salon and day spa where Kevin surprised me with a facial and pedicure. DIVINE!!! Oh, my gosh! The facial was AH-mazing and the break from the kids was a much needed respite!

The next event I was surprised with was a fun dinner at a local teppanyaki restaurant with all of my friends and their hubbies...sans children! (that was THE best part of the whole day!!!) We enjoyed delicious steak, chicken, (some of us calamari), fried rice, and freshly cooked noodles and veggies. And of course, the preparation is always entertaining.

We finished the evening at a Country Western Dancing club and bar called the Stampede in Temecula. Oh, what a night! I haven't been line dancing since I was probably 10 years old! I even got to ride a mechanical bull -free because it was my birthday!!! Yippee! (or not) But most of my friends were good sports and did it too.

We met quite a few characters while at Stampede: The first was an older gentleman whom you would have thought owned the place. In fact, I'm pretty sure he thought he did. He was not shy telling our group where we could sit, dance, and eat. So annoying. I was about to get pretty sarcastic with him at one point, but I changed my mind when I thought he might punch me for doing so. You know those red-neck cowboy types :) j/k

Trisha and I were hit on by a couple of young boys (I almost said teenagers, but you had to be 21 to get in) and that was A-W-K-W-A-R-D. They wanted us to dance with them and didn't get the hint (besides the wedding rings on our fingers) that we were unavailable, even after I told the boy talking to me that I needed to ask my HUSBAND for permission before I could dance with him. At one point, I even yelled toward Kevin, "Honey - I've got a date! Is that okay with you?" They eventually took off after Trisha and I continued trying to learn the line dance on the sidelines and ignored their offers for partnership. Kevin and the rest of the group were having a good laugh at our expense, and then later commented on how high these guys set their sights with Trisha and I, compared to the ladies they ended up with at the end of the night :) So funny!

The last was a couple of girls who apparently forgot to get dressed before they came to dance. One was wearing short shorts, what I call cootchie cutters, and a corset that was laced in the front with nothing underneath - and there was about a 2-3 inch gap between the sides of the corset, so everything from cleavage to navel was exposed. Classy. Her girlfriend wasn't much better off. With possibly the shortest cootchie cutters I have EVER seen and a tank top that exposed half of her abdomen, one that was NOT tone at all (at least her friend with the corset was thin) decided to ride the mechanical bull. Watching her get on the bull was nauseating, most of the guys in our group heading back to our table so they didn't have to witness any more. Watching her ride the bull was gag-inducing. But the crowning moment was when she flipped off and landed on her back, spread eagle, knees to her chest, almost like she was giving birth, with little more than a small strip of fabric from her shorts covering the parts that count. We were dying laughing, and the groans roared through the crowd that gathered to the sidelines...probably in disgust of her choice in wardrobe and precarious pose. She looked so ridiculous that I tried to covertly videotape her bull ride, but accidentally took a flash picture of her instead. Way to be subtle.

We ended up back at my house to enjoy a yummy cake made by my dear husband -fudge cake with chocolate chips, cream cheese frosting, and chocolate drizzled over the top. I was in heaven! After our friends left, Kevin gave me some clues for a scavenger hunt he set up through the house where I found various coupons for service from him ranging from a weeks work of laundry, vacuuming, or dish duty, to a full body massage, foot rub, and night out with the girls. Did my man do well or what?!

This was definitely a birthday to remember! I had more fun than I have had in a long time! The day was perfect - time with friends, time to relax on my own, time to be with my sweetheart. I will always cherish the wonderful day that Kevin planned just for me!