40th Birthday Surprise

I have been thinking about this day for months. How can you not? It's a 40th! So it had to be good, and it had to be done well. Back last fall I was thinking about it. Late in the winter I was thinking about it. What could I possibly buy him that he didn't already have or didn't want in the first place? What could I do to make it special? I tried to buy his love by sending him down to Florida to a triathlete training camp where the big tri guys train...this was after Brad somehow talked him into turning 40 AND doing an IronMan in the SAME year! Who wouldn't want to get away from it all for a week of sun, training and big time athletes? John!

I thought about taking him away for a night in Seattle. Then I realized he'd probably want to hook up with Brad and they'd plan, scheme and map out IronMan stuff for hours. Nope!
I thought about taking him on a float plane ride to an island getaway at some romantic resort. Then I realized that float planes crash more often than big jets. Nope!

I figured the best I could do was Whistler, and although I wanted some time away, just the two of us, I knew quite well that he is most happy when he has us all together, as a family, entertaining and spending quality time the four of us. So with that, I started trying to map out a plan. Rhonda offered to watch the boys for the first night, then take the kids up and over the border to join us for the second night. I thought that John would enjoy a night out to explore Whistler without the pressure of entertaining the boys, but wouldn't be so keen on being away another night without them. Rhonda was willing to take a day off during her week to help me with the boys while I planned to whisk John away as a surprise, then drive them up the following day. But what car would I take? How would I get John off of work without him having a ton of appointments with families and needy kids? How would I arrange a hotel without John seeing the VISA account or something coming through online?

I called up his boss and first asked for permission for him to be gone for those days. Then we worked out a plan to clear his schedule. And knowing he is no dummy, she thought to get HR into this by drafting up a letter for him to attend a mandatory training. She pulled his other co workers into the scheme, too, just to make sure they were all in on this "training" that he was going to. Once that was settled a few months before, I let it go as John and I then had to focus our energies on planning Tommy's birthday, our big trip to the Caribbean, then Cooper's 2nd birthday. There was little time for me to think of much else, really.

Once all that partying was over, I really felt the crunch. I wondered about the plan after John surprised me with an anniversary trip up to Vancouver, wondering if this would be too much. I couldn't stop now. I had no other plan. A few weeks before, I checked in one more time with his supervisor, Martha, who assured me that they were all still on board and that he was planning on going to the "training". Rhonda helped me book the hotel on her credit card, which was not easy for me, as I was trying to get two different types of rooms for the two nights, as well as get it on some sort of discount so John wouldn't be disappointed at the cost. Of course, I couldn't figure out his hotwire methods, so full price I paid. I figured that it was worth it for a 40th, right?

A week before I realized that if I didn't do something on the day of his birthday, he would probably realize that something was up. I thought about maybe just getting us together for a local dinner in B'ham. That just didn't seem good enough to keep him off track. Meanwhile, every chance I got I was slowly trying to get laundry done, as I had to pack the boys up for Rhonda, get their stuff ready. I also had to figure out how to write a letter to get them over the border without a parent, find passports for them, and make sure everything was ready so all Rhonda had to do was pack them in the car. Oh, and try not to let John realize what I was doing. I wanted the boys as safe driving up as I could get them, so I agreed to let Rhonda use our Pilot, but decided against using her car. I didn't want to risk breaking down half way up there. So, I called up the rental company and reserved a car for the three days. Anyway, it had to be bigger than just dinner, so I called up Robin, called up Brad, got the Lawrences to commit, and tried for Stephen as well, who shares a birthday with John and would probably be celebrating with Barb. Initially, it looked Stephen would not be able to attend, but surprisingly Robin thought they could make it work, despite their crazy, hectic schedules. Brad assured me that they would attend, regardless of Erica's recent surgery, and advised on the time in which to set the dinner for. I texted my friend Larry, who replied back to my inquiry of a family place in Everett. "Scuttlebutts", he replied. "No, Larry, not a strip club! A family party!" I snapped back to him. But ultimately I trusted him with this supposed waterfront brewery half way for those coming up, and halfway for those of us going down. Rhonda agreed to pick up the boys after work, and take my car, and I would get a ride from John. I told John that I would be taking him out to dinner for the night and that Rhonda was watching the kids for us.

Over the weekend, Stephen surprised me and let me know that they would all attend, including Donna, Annika and Kevin, as well as Gillian, who would be flying in from New York that day. With those numbers, after talking it over with Barb and Lil, I decided that I'd better get the side room, although very expensive to reserve. I just didn't think we would all fit and I didn't want to worry about us not sitting together in a dining room. John and I ended up getting to leave early, but he was on to us all. He knew something was up, but just couldn't figure it out. We shopped at the outlet malls, and I anxiously watched the time. Jenny was texting me the whole time, notifying me when they had passed the outlets with the boys following with Rhonda behind! It was exciting and sickening at the same time. Getting lost down in Everett made it no better, either.

Turns out, it was a wonderful, wonderful night together. The kids all yelled surprise from various hiding spots in the large room we had to ourselves, and we all enjoyed good food and great fellowship together as a family. And everyone was able to make it. It couldn't have turned out better. Better still was my belief that just maybe John had been surprised enough to be put off the trail of the bigger surprise awaiting him. Phase I of my birthday surprise was complete!

My initial plan was to pack John up, get to his work before him, then race for the border. A few days before, it became clear that it wouldn't be such a quick getaway. I couldn't pack his electronics or his toiletries without worrying I'd miss something, as well as the letter we would both need to sign together authorizing Rhonda to take the boys up to meet us. Rhonda, Cooper and I took off for the car rental, telling John that Rhonda was watching Cooper for me while I attended a quick meeting at DCFS. John took Thomas to school. The car rental went smoothly, however, they upgraded me as I am a sucker for their sales pitch. I was almost sick driving over to John's work, wondering how this was all going to turn out. Martha and Tracy took me back to their office, and we settled in to wait for John. Jenny texted me that she had just seen John in the preschool parking lot and was now following him down Lakeway. It was a long 40 minute wait. Then he didn't even come in to his office area, but went quickly down for his "training". Martha had to go chase him down, telling him to go back up to meet with one of his "kids" that was having a bad morning. He spied me as he walked up the stairs, a look of confusion and/or complete shock on his face. It still wasn't making sense to him, and it took several explanations from his boss to understand he truly didn't have training and that it was all a set up. He was free to go!

I had warned Rhonda that John might not be willing to leave the boys. I had a nagging sense that he'd want them along. Sure enough, he thought it would be fun to take them up for the full time to get the most out of our vacation, so I quickly called Rhonda up to tell her to get things ready, we rushed to the car rental to turn the car back in, then headed for home to finish packing. It didn't take Tommy but one guess to determine where we were going together as we picked him up from preschool. And then off we went! Whistler!

Thanks to EVERYONE for making John's birthday dinner down at Scuttlebutts so special. Your time and energy to make it there was so appreciated by us! Thanks again!