40th Birthday

I couldn't have asked for a better 40th birthday week. Yep, I got a full week to celebrate, not just one day! We flew into Reno on August 3rd and started the "party" with 2 days at Auntie Sue's house with Grandma Mary. Of course there were presents and cake and games and 40th b'day napkins and place settings to set the mood. Those two really know how to make a girl feel special! The kids were so excited to spend time with two of their favorite people and they, of course, loved being spoiled with all the attention and time and love that Mary and Auntie Sue lavish on them. Auntie Sue had originally wanted to send us all to a Giants game for a birthday present but due to the timing we were unable to take her up on this great idea. Instead we suggested a family trip to Marine World for the day- which was a yearly tradition with Brian and his grandparents growing up. It ended up being a blast! I'm not sure who had more fun: the kids or Brian and I watching the kids!

Next we headed to the Delta where we spent Saturday and Sunday with the whole family and various friends from high school and college. Yoshi won the award for "traveled the furthest to be there", coming all the way from London to join in the festivities. Lisa and John and the girls came in second, driving down from Seattle towing Ol' Bessie (our old ski boat) the whole way! Joe and Suzie continued their bid for "most prepared and best meal" by cooking for a huge crowd on Saturday night. We had leftover salmon and arugula for days!! Anna and Geof came Saturday evening, also, and allowed us to use their boat for the entire week, even though they were only able to join us for the one evening. A huge thank you to them for that! On Sunday Sheila and Wayne arrived and Shannon and her two girls. Even our old "house boating friends" Kristie and Paul were able to make it for a few hours! It was so much fun to see everyone and to watch all of the kids play together in the water, on the dock, and on the water slide. I actually had time to just relax and talk to the grown ups, as the kids were fully entertained by all the other families around.

We split dinners up and everyone cooked one night. We ate well!! White chili with all the fixings, buttermilk chicken, tri tip, pork tenderloin, last night.... we had a little bit of everything! We ate outside on the deck every night and enjoyed the food, drinks, beautiful sunsets, and conversation. Unfortunately I got strep throat on Sunday and went to bed early each night, trying to recuperate, but all in all I feel like I didn't miss out on too much, despite not being 100%. We celebrated our birthday on Tuesday with presents after dinner. Brian and the kids made me a beautiful and funny book of 40 coupons to be used throughout my birthday year including things like: a new pair of sunglasses (even though I really don't need one!), a day of garage sales on my own, a latte from Starbucks without Brian making fun of my ridiculous $4 coffee habit, etc...

The kids all tried waterskiing, with varying degrees of success. Jake gave it a good go, but only "got up" for a second before tiring out. Tanner tried from the beach and gave it three good tries before calling "Uncle". The kids loved the SeaDoo- and the adults, too. I even got Mom to give it a try and she was fearless! Brian and Faith got it up to 52 miles an hour but I was content cruising along at 22. I was so glad we decided to rent it for the week.

Wednesday-Friday was basically just our family and the best part was watching all of the cousins play together. They entertained themselves 98% of the time, making up games, playing in the water, playing hide and go seek, etc... Faith was fearless in the water. She put that life jacket on and just jumped right in, over and over and over. The kids also loved the paddle boat that was there and they would all climb on and take it across the "bay" together to the "Witch House" (an abandoned house on the other side of the cul-de-sac). It was so much fun to watch them and I was so impressed with how the older kids helped with the younger kids and how everyone got along. There was virtually no fighting.

It wasn't perfect: Family vacations are always a challenge-so many different personalities and so much emotional baggage and the unfinished business of growing up that each person brings to the table. But despite the ups and downs (that each of the adults experienced to some degree) it was a really successful and fun trip for me. It was actually exactly what I wanted it to be when I started planning it almost two years ago. I wanted to relive some of my favorite childhood/young adult moments ("The Delta Days") and I did. Those old Delta days were never perfect either. Even though they live strongly in my heart I don't think I sugarcoat the memories too much. It was FAMILY then- and all of the chaos and craziness and love and challenges that that word entails- and it was FAMILY now.

At the end of the ten days everyone was

exhausted! Seriously, the kids looked like they were coming home from war or something. The picture below shows how they passed the time as Brian and I were checking in with Southwest on our way home from Reno. The Giants Pillow Pets, courtesy of their Auntie Sue and Grandma Mary, came in very handy!

I couldn't have asked for a better way to enter my 40's. A huge "Thank you" to everyone that helped make this milestone so special. I am a very lucky woman to have all of you in my life.