30 sucks, guys...

uh! finally the photos of my weekend bash at Galveston, TX! i have to say, that hauling an entire gang in a van and a car sure made it for a jam-packed weekend...kids were involved so we didn't get too wild. 

the night before my birthday, my sister finally came in all the way from ft. worth with her little family and coaxed my other sister to build me a surprise balloon door. it was hysterical for my 5 year old who always wants to be the first one up. 

and all weekend long, we were kicking and shooing balloons out of our way. balloons. balloons for days!

SURPRISE! i'm 30. 

we took it easy that day. we played card games, swam, went to the beach, etc. then, i was promptly shooed out of the room so that they could get ready for my birthday bash out on the beach. even though i had no idea what was happening because they kept it a pretty good secret. all i knew was that we were going to the beach, tan-tan. well, and that maybe i would have some ceviche that day because mom packed some fish :) well, and that i was also going to be having a good time with all that booze my lovely sister brought. did i have a good time that day? YES. I. DID. 

so hubby took me to see some sights in downtown Galveston (so lovely, by the way), and also only taking this photo at Murdoch's...whoever took our photo is completely fired by the way... i really can't believe i didn't take that many pictures--i find it hard to take photos of both of us together.

on our way back, i think everyone started to worry about the weather. the one day that was my birthday, it had to storm...and it was pretty violent. but i guess we were all hoping it was gonna be a small storm? because they went ahead and set it up anyway.

my husband spent i don't know how long carving my name on the beach while my sister furiously got to work on my little 'soiree'. 

these photos were taken before it started to pour on them...everyone suffered that evening. it all looked perfect...it would have been perfect had it not been for the weather! but that poor little tent didn't make it but a few fierce gusts of wind...when i came down from the walkway to see the beautiful setup, everyone was trying to hold down that poor tent. i still can't figure out how the heck she managed to fit her generator in her trunk. ha!

so, we had no choice but to move the party under some cover beside the pool during the storm because i was not about to give up on my shindig...no way. we did the best we could with what we salvaged from the storm and everyone who setup/tore down was huffin' and puffin'...do you know how hard it is to carry all that half a mile in the sand? ask my husband. yeeeah, it was not fun. 

and poor babies...they were good sports but were so tired. i can't believe i didn't get a pic with all four grandkids. so we busted out a mini-boom box and some tunes and pretended we were on the beach. 

 welcome to my beach chair throne

we had everything for my hawaiian luau except for the pig (we had ceviche instead, remember?) and the fire-dancing entertainment...although we did dance. 

we had these tiny little 30 candles, which Jonah thought were chocolate lollipops and then chew into one. oh how i wish i had a picture of him eating it. hilarious. 

and then it was time to cut the cake. and for my husband to smash it on my face. i'm 30 and i'm still getting cake in mah' face! oy! 

so there it is guys...my awesomely failed birthday bash! it was fun regardless. i had my family. i had my drinks. i had my cake. that's all i need. all i'm missing now is that tattoo...hmm. 

i am now 30 years old. and everyone knows it. including the people at the resort thanks to Jonah. he made sure to tell every-one that it was his mommy's birthday and she was three-zero years old. 

thanks jojo. 

...he's never had a surprise birthday party...

For about a month, I had been lying to my own husband. Telling him that I had already paid for my high school's 10th year reunion tickets in my hometown that happened to coincide with his 30th birthday. 

He's not one to ever throw a fit, he goes with the flow. But OH, he threw a fit. 

Pouted, yelled, and stern-faced me about 2 days straight before I actually told him--"SURPRISE! We're not really going to drive 5 hours to see a buncha people I hardly know {I transferred a lot}, love. NO. I'm driving, so get your precious buns in the car." 

You see, I've never done this. Not for him, not for anyone. The most of my birthday planning is for my two kids and that's easy. My husband is as picky as a pickle {honestly, I don't know what's pickier, a two year old or my husband} so I naturally HATE shopping for him for fear he'll reject what I get him.

But this year, he'd expressed his excitement when we would pass Shark Weekend at the Aquarium in Downtown Houston billboard so I instantly knew that's where we would go. 

And that I would lie to him about it.

It's funner that way. 

Here's our pre-surprise-birthday-party picture, Take #75. 

OOh, I thought I was so clever. I printed out maps of our route, only they were the wrong destinations.

So, after I missed the turn for an important highway {he usually drives because he has Google maps integrated into his brain while I mindlessly think about non-important things and daydream the entire way} and had to turn around, his frustration grew because I wouldn't tell him where we were going.

It was when we had to spend 30 minutes driving around looking for parking spot that he finally knew our first destination. He likes sharks. Just like I like cats. 

It was Shark Weekend, it was 100 degrees, and a bijillion people showed up. 

AWESOME.

Surprising moment of the day? When I told the boys to sit and look at the camera and Andrew grabbed Jonah's neck and pulled him in close. My heart COMPLETELY melted. <3 p="p">

And in we went to see some spectacular fishes, amphibians, invertebrates, reptiles, and even tigers.

It was so hot, and lucky us, all the rides were outdoors. But our wait for the Shark Train wasn't that bad...

Daddy had to grab some nice cold Coca Colas----AHHHH!----and we were feeling so much better.

Share. Share. Share.

The boys hogged them, of course. 

Off to see the sharks!

 ...and into the sealed, air-less, tunnel to watch the sharks swim above us. 

Pretty neat. Unfortunately, that was it for the sharks. 

Oh wait....there was this guy who scared us to death....

And then, this was next. 

A nice view of downtown Houston! NO SMOG visible--haha!

 It was so hot, every body was sweating. The boys didn't complain though. They were troopers.

I, however, completely protested with my smudged makeup and 1 bobby pin for my disastrous hair.

OOooOOooh the carousel was next! 

The boys liked the animals so much, we rode it twice.

I LOVED this sea horse! I wanted to take it home with me...I wished it woulda popped out like in Mary Poppins.

 His crotch He really didn't like that sea horse....

 See? Loved it.

Unbeknownst to him again, I tried driving us to this fancy place in The Woodlands called Skeeter's. I had to drive about 20 minutes to our destination and then waste an hour for our reservations at the restaurant. I counted on my sister-in-law to bring cake and balloons so we could party it up like crazy folks. The thing was, Skeeter's didn't end up being fancy {never been there before} so I felt like a fool walking in and seeing this fancy sign for our table. DOH. 

Yeah, Skeeters was WAY fancy. 

We put in the million candles, sang, took pictures, ate cake and then...

...guess who had to lick the icing off Daddy's face?!

 He really appreciate the gift I so thoughtfully got for him.

 And as if we weren't salty enough from the scorching sun and bone-dog-tired from the days' events, we finished the bash with some bowling at Main Event.

 And of course, boys will be boys.

We were pooped. We were tired. We were disgustingly nasty.

Man, that was one hell of a birthday. When we pulled up at our place, he looks over to me and says Thank you. I'm thinking, Hope you enjoyed it 'cause you're never getting another surprise birthday bash for the rest of your life....but I just tell him You're welcome.

Love.