Thirty and Flirty and Biting.

History teaches us that I'm not great at surprises. But I attempted one for Brandon's 30th birthday nonetheless. A sweet friend had a much-deserved night on the town with her husband and stayed in a hotel on the Strip a while back. She had such a nice little break that she insisted we do the same and she offered to babysit for us. So, I did some not-so-covert digging to find out where he'd want to stay and finally broke down to tell him the plan when I couldn't hide my stress upon discovering that the Luxor didn't have availability for the kind of room we wanted on his birthday. He WAS surprised (just a month or two early) and told me I could book anywhere, so I did. I called the Luxor and found out that they did indeed have a pyramid suite available. Done. So it ended up being a surprise after all, which I revealed an hour before we left (which is a pretty good level of surprise for me.)

Our plan to leave Teagan with H was the perfect option when we planned it months ago. But lately, our kids have been at each other's throats constantly and I was losing sleep over how they would get along overnight. I gave her the option to back out but she secured her mansion in heaven and said she'd still be happy to take her. So we dropped off the wee one, hoping that we were dropping of Sweet, Polite, Caring Teagan and not her alter-ego, Lady Pushes-a-Lot. After several nervous texts upon leaving her, H instructed me not to worry about her again until after lunch the next day. Bless her heart.

So, we started the birthday celebration early (and Brandon-style) by grabbing Chinese take-out to eat in our room. Glorious. The only thing that would have made the situation better for Buddy would be if there were March Madness games on that night. Alas...for him.

The room was really nice, as hotel rooms go. Our view left a little to be desired (ahem, the backside of the Tower and The Excalibur.)

 

 But the bed was bouncy and the view from the hall was really neat - ie. the inside of the Pyramid.

 

 

Just to prove that we aren't old quite yet, we decided to talk a walk on The Strip. Truth be told, we were scouting out places to eat breakfast. More truth be told, we didn't walk for very long. Yep, we're old. We sat our old selves down at Tropical Smoothie Cafe and just talked. And, of course, people watched. Not sure what it is about Las Vegas that renders mirrors irrelevant, but there are SO many people out there that need better - more honest - friends. But it made for some entertainment. We got to spin the wheel 'o' coupons at Tropical Smoothie and wound up with a 2 for 1 coupon only good at that location until the end of the week. So naturally, we found ourselves there for breakfast...shortly after Cinnabon. Suckers for a bargain, we noticed that 6 Cinnabons only cost 40 cents more than 4 of them, so we went with 6. Just the two of us. The baker announced every minute how long it would be until we got our 6. I joked with the cashier that everyone in the food court is going to know that two people ordered 6 between them, so the baker yelled at the top of his lungs, "They ordered SIX for the TWO of them." If we had any shame at all, we would have been embarrassed. We took some of the loot home. For those of you watching at home - we walked INTO the hotel with Chinese food and OUT with 2/3 of a box of Cinnabons. No shame.

Brandon couldn't have timed his birthday better. Teagan hasn't slept through the night in I don't care to speculate how long, so a full night's sleep was just what the doctor ordered. It. Was. Heavenly. We owe H our sanity.

I scored a gift card to Red Robin with our credit card points and took the birthday boy out for a birthday burger for lunch. Delish. And free. The cherry on top of the perfect extended date night would have to be the old school station wagon we drove behind on the way home. Like a wood paneled sign from above.

You may be wondering how this day could have gotten better. The answer is: Teagan's first nap in weeks. We took her to the park and enjoyed a little family time and she conked out on the way home. We walked a few extra minutes to milk this rarity for all it was worth. She still wasn't awake by the time we got home, so we pulled the stroller inside and let her ride it out. For an hour. As painful as it can be, we had to draw the line in order for her to go to bed at night, so I threw the dice and picked her up. And she fell back sleep for another half an hour. Sleep be darned, I couldn't resist holding her like that as long as she'd let me. Especially when she posed.

If there was a downside to the whole shenanigan, it would be that the "friends" stopped being friendly after a little while. Teagan has a nice mouth-shaped bruise on her arm now and her little buddy had scratches on his face. Considering the fact that she pushed him down the stairs not long ago and still laughs about it, it's almost refreshing to see that he's standing up for himself - then I don't have to feel quite so guilty about having raised a Baby Fight Club member. Teagan - when you're reading this later, know that I had the utmost sympathy for you and it broke my heart to see you hurt...but it seemed a relatively small price to pay for a quick getaway  and a good night's sleep. Thanks for taking one for the team for Daddy's birthday.

 

It was his 30th, and if I were a better wife I would have planned a full scale party, but he told me he didn't need one. Don't generally have to read between Brandon's lines, so I didn't. I did coordinate with Greg, who heads up the twice a week basketball and arranged to surprise him with cupcakes the Saturday morning after his birthday. I got up a few minutes after Brandon left, not really leaving enough time to let the cupcakes cool before I frosted them. Add the fact that I forgot to add the water to the mix and had to scrape out a dozen cupcake wrappers and I was running more than a little behind. Betty Crocker I am not. My dear friend Natalie made the icing for me, helped me frost them AND watched Teagan for me while I delivered them. Wonderful. I guess they ended early, but knowing I was coming, Greg texted me that they were going to start another game and to just come in when I got there. As I was leaving, he texted me that Brandon had rolled his ankle and was sitting out. I poked my head in, made eye contact with Greg who gave me the nod. I closed the door and heard a piercing shriek emanating from the other side. Greg appeared in the doorway, carried by two other guys - an Oscar worthy performance to stop the game that they'd never intended to start. In I walked and we sang Happy Birthday. He was surprised, embarrassed, all of it. Since most of his good friends are the ones he played with, I thought it would be easier than taking them away from their families (or hosting their families for that matter) so I wanted to do it when they were already out. The fact that the Stake YW had decorated for Easter only added to the festivity of the occasion. Happy Birthday from the ballers!