sur-PRISE
I pulled off the biggest event of my life (birth of three kidlets notwithstanding) and I am still floating on air.
Let’s start at the beginning…
January 29, 1968 — at 8:05am, weighing a mere 4 pounds, 9 ounces, PC entered the world.
And we have known each other 27 of those years.
But how well does one really know another person?
PC’s 40th birthday has been looming large for…oh, about 7 years now…and I’d always planned to so something really special for him. A surprise vacation — without the kids — to one of the places he’s always dreamed of visiting.
The cloud forests of Costa Rica
or the amazing coastline of Belize
or perhaps a little skiing at Jackson Hole
And then I got pregnant…
Which meant that my plans to whisk PC away to an undisclosed location would not be just like the movies. In fact, it would not come to be at all. At least, not for now.
With plans to take the trip once Peach has been weaned, ideas for some other significant way to mark PC’s big day began to take shape.
Party?
Yes, a party would be a great idea. Who doesn’t love to be surrounded by friends and family?
Location?
A little trickier. PC loves sushi! His favourite sushi place, California Beach Sushi, would be the logical place for a bash. However, PC’s friend, Chef Hide, said that with a group as large as ours, he wouldn’t be able to give us the same VIP treatment he gives to PC when it’s just a group of 2 or 4.
So sushi was out. Location TBD…
Type of party?
Billiards and games? maybe…but it’s been done before and I wanted this to be something really different. And fun.
Ah-ha! A scavenger hunt! That’s easy enough to do and fun as well. Except with three kids, our current run of plagues (lice, illness, rodents…remember?), a congregation, and so forth, it was soon clear that Frume Sarah would need just a little help.
Enter Watson Adventures. They put the hunt together and ran the evening so that I could just participate along with our guests. Location: Downtown Disney. A birthday celebration just would not be complete without dessert so we finished the evening at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen. [My selection is not listed on the menu but I would highly recommend the S’mores Up ’cause anything with toasted marshmellows is yummy!]
For a first-person account of the evening, read what PepGiraffe has to say.
The best part?? PC had NO idea. I really mean NO IDEA! In fact, I had kept so quiet about the entire production that PC was convinced that I was letting his milestone birthday pass with nary a celebration. Which really ticked him off!!
Hey PC…did ya really think I’d forgotten about you???
Happy 40th birthday, Love!!
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awesome. good for you! we have a big birthday coming up in november in our house (same number!) and i’m trying to come up with something fabulous….it’s so great when you can pull something off:-) p.s. i sent you an awesome package today.
I didn’t know PC and I shared a bday! Happy bday, PC! And happy almost bday, FS!
Phyl — thanks!! I can’t wait!! And you should check out Watson Adventures as they do hunts in your neck of the woods.
James – oops…my bad! I totally forgot to call you yesterday 😦 Hope you had a fabulous birthday.