Birthday gifts are the best--when given by my husband!

This is the first birthday in several years that I have not been in school, finishing up teaching for the year or too busy to really care that it was my birthday. Because of this, my birthday was one that I really didn't care about. In the years past, I just wanted to relax and have no real responsibilities for just one day. Because of all of this mind set in the years past, I decided that I wanted this birthday to be special. (One might say that I was also feeling a bit overwhelmed with being pregnant and have a VERY busy 16-month old.)

I had told Ian over a month ago that he had better plan something very special for this birthday. Little did I know that he was already on the ball. Some of you may know my little sister, Melissa. She is my dearest friend and the move to Washington has been hard on both of us (moving from a 15-minute drive to now a 9-hour drive tends to be hard on seeing each other regularly).

Tuesday night, Ian and I were lying in bed talking and Ian mentioned that I needed to pack my bags the next day because on Thursday, I would be going on a trip with Niev. He didn't tell me where I was going or what I would be doing. On Thursday, he told me to drive to my sister, Julie's, in Portland and that she could tell me the rest of the surprise. Unfortunately, Ian had too much work to be able to take off almost a week, so off I went with Niev to see Julie. I was SHOCKED to see Melissa at Julie's. I was so excited. Ian flew Melissa into Portland to meet my sister, Julie and we all headed off to the Oregon Coast to Julie's beautiful, relaxing beach house. Boston and Niev were so cute together and played like great friends (with just a few "bully" moments from Niev). It was a great break from the every day work. On Tuesday, Melissa and Boston drove back with Niev and me to see my house.

Another sister, Kathy, was planning on coming down to see Melissa at my house. She was not aware of our plans so she had to leave immediately on Tuesday night. It was great to spend so much time with all of my sisters. I could not have asked for a better birthday present. My husband knows me well. He seems to always know just what to do to make me feel loved and appreciated as his greatest love. He is my everything. I cannot thank him enough for this birthday surprise. Julie and Tom were real troopers for putting up with two very active babies destroying both of their houses. Thanks for all the great food and hospitality. Thanks to Melissa and Jeremy for making all the sacrifices to also make this possible.

It was a blast to see Niev and Boston at the beach. The water was freezing, but both of them loved the waves and playing in the sand. Niev couldn't wait to take a dive into the waves. She had absolutely no fear. If we were not there to stop her, she would have just kept walking straight into the waves. She really was so cute with her determined self. Notice how she is trying to get free of Julie when Julie is only trying to help her. What am I in for when she is 16???



She finally got too cold so we took her back to the beach and started playing in the sand. She was investigating the sand castle/mound that Tom and Boston were working on when she slipped and fell, face first, into the sand mound. Her mouth must have been open because she had sand clear in the back of her tongue. Note the sand in her eyelashes:
Then because of her trying to spit out the sand, she formed a perfect muddy goatee. I could barely hold the camera still (yes, I am a horrible mother to take pictures instead of helping my baby girl, but words alone cannot give you these images!) I was laughing so hard.
She got so cold that Julie had pity on her and wrapped her in her sweatshirt.
She then would not let us pull the hood up just so she could see out of it.

More pics to follow, but I must go to bed. It really was the greatest vacation. Ian is amazing!