Party, Surprise Party, Party of 3
We went to church, stormed the castle, and visited the Australian outback.
So my birthday was this weekend!
I'm not used to anyone making a big deal out of that, but Kevin had been telling me for months how excited he was to finally give me my gift. And I knew his mom was baking me a birthday cake for all of us to enjoy after our customary Friday-night takeout.
Friday was also my annual company picnic at work, which was a nice way to start my birthday weekend: Half a day working, then off to Peace Valley Park for food and games the rest of the afternoon!
And then I headed for Kevin's parents' house. Kevin had suggested that Riley and I spend Thursday night at his place, so it was wonderful not having to race all the way over to Morrisville in rush hour traffic after the picnic to pick Riley up and bring her back to Southampton for dinner!
Speaking of Thursday... as I left for work in the morning, I spotted a suspiciously-square Minecraft cloud. The second one this week!
My Party
We had pizza at Kevin's parents' house, with Catherine and Ron; Kelly, Steve, and Olivia; and of course Kevin, Riley, and me.
After dinner it was time to open my gifts. I received very lovely cards from Kevin's family, and also gift cards to Mad Mex (where I took Kevin for his birthday) and Applebee's (a tried and true family favorite in my household).
When I got to Kevin's present, I was so excited: A beautiful card with an even more beautiful handwritten note inside. Also inside the card was what initially appeared to be a strip of black plastic, but when I picked it up I realized it was a leather bookmark... and there was an engraving on it!
I tried to read it aloud for everyone but couldn't finish the sentence right away:
It was by far the best present I have ever received for my birthday. I'm so blessed to have this wonderful man to be my husband!
Then Kevin surprised me and pulled out a gift bag with more presents, following an "Intelligence, Music, and Trust" theme...
For "intelligence," he got me two books: Neil Gaiman's American Gods because he knows I like mythology, and Katherine Neville's The Eight because he knows I like history and I've started getting interested in chess since I've known him.
Then for "music," he got me the album Black Halo by the British electronic group Hybrid (which he had introduced me to on one of our first dates).
And finally, for "trust," he got me a gift card that was good at any of four places, and explained that there was one of those places in particular that he, Riley, and I mentioned semi-frequently (Outback Steakhouse), and he trusted me to make the right decision.
Kevin also surprised me by getting a card and a gift for Riley to give me (which was a first for her since my ex could never be bothered to try to include the kids in anything). So, Riley gave me the card game What Do You Meme? for us to play as a family!
After presents, it was time for the birthday cake Kevin's mom had made me, which was delicious! Then we played a few rounds of Meme with her, Kelly, and Steve until it was time for them to head home to get Olivia to bed.
Later in the evening, Kevin and I took Riley to Ross to look for new sneakers, and then we all popped over to the apartment to check in on Lucky and make sure he was doing okay on his own. Then we came back to Kevin's and tried to get to bed early for the next day's (secret) festivities...
Ron's 70th Surprise Party
Kevin's stepdad's 70th birthday is next weekend, so Catherine and Kelly had spent the past couple months planning a surprise party at Catherine's church.
A lot of Kevin's extended family (from both Catherine's side and Ron's) were there, as were many of his parents' close family friends!
Since it was at the church, Catherine took advantage of the fact that she sings in the choir and her brother Roy is the choir director: They made it seem like he was having a picnic for the members of the choir and their spouses, and then Kevin's Aunt Sue (Roy's wife) faked a leg injury so she could ask Ron to pick her up the day of the "picnic" (since Catherine and Roy would be at the church setting things up).
Everything went perfectly! The food and desserts were beautiful and tasted great. We had fun hanging out with Kevin's family and his parents' friends. And, it was a riot to see Aunt Sue take two steps into the church before throwing down her cane and ripping off her boot as though she'd been miraculously healed!
Riley made a friend as well! She had asked Kevin whether anyone her age would be there (to which Kevin said no, since he forgot his cousin Laura and her kids were coming). But then, she and Laura's daughter Ava ended up realling hitting it off and exchanging phone numbers to keep in touch!
And of course Olivia had a great time as well!
Fonthill Park
After the party, Kevin took Riley and me to Fonthill Park in Doylestown. We were running out of daylight, but we were headed up in that direction to have dinner at Outback anyway...
We found the house in the woods...
There was a wedding at the castle, so we could only get so close...
...And of course took some obligatory artsy pics!
Party of 3
And since it was my birthday too, after all, we finally made it to Outback Steakhouse... where I was the only one who actually ordered a steak!
We split an order of loaded Aussie fries as an appetizer, then Kevin got a burger and Riley got her trusty chicken tenders.
Later on, we took Riley home (and listened to Black Halo on the car ride home). Then Kevin and I just spent most of Sunday relaxing after a memorable and action packed weekend :)