Lordy, Lordy, Adam's 40!

Adam turned 40 in September.  We're actually not huge birthday people but we thought about this one a lot because for the 19 months leading up to it, I was pregnant or we had a baby taking over our lives.  We didn't have a specific plan but we knew it was going to be grown ups only.  We thought about a party but we had a big one for his 30th birthday.  We thought about Punta Mita but we wanted to be with friends instead of the Mexican cartel.  We thought about Santa Barbara because it's a happy place for our friends.  Adam happened upon a beach house that slept 14 in Carpinteria.  Done!

We rented the beach house for Thursday through Sunday but left on Wednesday night.  As per our usual, we pit stopped in San Luis Obispo for dinner at Woodstock Pizza and breakfast at the Apple Farm.  If you haven't seen how young 21 year olds look, go to Woodstocks on a Wednesday.  I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see them order a second pitcher of beer.

We couldn't get the keys to the beach house until 3 PM so Adam and I stopped in Santa Barbara for the day.  We spent a few hours shopping up and down State Street.  No strollers...no kids...no kid stores...no cutting up food...no looking for restrooms...no diaper changes.  It was only the first day away and it was glorious already.

That afternoon, we met the keeper of the keys at the house.  We toured the 6 bedrooms, learned how to use the hot tub and pool, found all the gadgets and TVs that come out of cabinets and counted down the minutes until our friends arrived.

Some came to the house and some were driving down after work so we met at The Palace, one of Adam's favorite college restaurants, for an early birthday dinner.  We ate a ton of food, drank a ton and ate a ton more bread pudding.  The weekend was off to a good start.

On Friday the rest of the gang arrived.  We spent the majority of the day eating, drinking and laughing on a deck overlooking the ocean.  The house was fantastic.  The deck was even better.  If there was a refrigerator and restroom on the deck, we might not have gone back inside the house.

My brother surprised us by visiting for the weekend.  He lives in Washington right now but was visiting a friend in San Diego.  She had a meeting north of her house anyway so they came up for the weekend.  We weren't sure about the sleeping arrangements so they didn't stay with us but they spent the days (and late nights) enjoying the house.

Friday night is a bit of a blur.  Kevin was in charge of dinner.  Adam and I were in charge of drinking.  I believe there was some euchre, some drinking, some tennis, some drinking, some hot tubbing, some drinking, some barbecue, some drinking, some flames coming out of the chimney, some drinking, some loud music, some drinking, some dancing and some requests to turn down the music (sorry JG).

Saturday was the official birthday party.  JG coordinated with the rest of the gang to hire a chef to cater dinner that night.  It was supposed to be a surprise but the property manager told Adam about it on Thursday.  Surprise or not, it was absolutely delicious.  And, by the time we were done with dessert, the kitchen was spotless.  That alone was worth it!  Thanks JG!

As a thank you for celebrating with him, Adam got everyone a special t shirt.  It was perfect since Auntie made Adam a birthday shirt like Ruby's (Ruby picked out the Star Wars fabric).  He was surprised when everyone decided to wear them to dinner that night.  I wasn't.  The t shirts went perfectly with our stretchy pants (don't forget next time A).

Thanks to all our friends and family who took trains, planes and automobiles to spend the weekend with Adam.  He appreciated and enjoyed every minute of it.  Mark your calendars.  The band will be getting back together next September =)

Thanks Grandma O'Brien and Grandpa Gary.  The girls had a busy schedule with preschool, gymnastics, jammie movie parties, welcome back picnics and birthday parties.  They didn't miss us a bit which is a great feeling.