Mike’s 40th Birthday

Entering 2016, we knew that we would be celebrating some big birthdays. To begin, Mike was turning the BIG FOUR OHHHHH!

When I asked him what he had in mind – he had a simple request, to get a small group of friends together. Not necessarily to celebrate him, but a get-together which is normally hard to do.

So, we began the planning process about two months in advance to give everyone with families and work plans enough time to schedule for the weekend.

Mike’s birthday landed on a Sunday this year, so we had originally planned for a three day weekend event. However, that plan quickly reduced down to one day.

Our itinerary for the weekend was a grand ole time:

Friday, April 1^st (No April Fools) 😉

I asked Mike to take off work by 11 am. After our morning coffee, we opened gifts one through 18. Mainly because our day included a few gifts.

So as the afternoon approached, Mike and I drove down to Chula Vista to enjoy two full hours at Jump Around Now. We have been wanting to try one of these places for a while now – and this adventure seemed like a perfect way to enter 40.

I wanted to get there early, because this was spring break time for the kids, so I wanted to beat the crowds. Sure enough, we got in and put our “sticky” socks on and got to jumpin’. This place was great – it included different levels, with an obstacle like course, a jumpy dodge ball area, basketball area, two foam pits with trampolines and monkey bars, and of course a room filled with trampolines.

Both of us could not tell you the last time we were on a trampoline, so we had a lot of fun… for about 40 minutes. Not going to lie, we had to take several breaks – we were exhausted. So, needless to say, we did not accomplish the full two hours, but we would definitely go back.

After our jump adventure, it was time for some lunch. We picked up some sandwiches made at our local Olive Tree Market and headed to the beach. It was still a cool 68 degrees – sounds warm, but the ocean breeze was a little cool. Enter another birthday gift: Frisbee. This kept us warm, however, the three day weekend was turning into more than an “active rest weekend”.

After our day at the beach, we cleaned ourselves up and enjoyed social hour and dinner at the house.

Saturday, April 2^nd

As we are both planning to run the Rock N Roll Marathon in June, Mike and I have some serious training to do. So we woke up early to catch the train to Oceanside and run the 16 miles back. I mean, what better way to ring in 40 besides running 16 miles. Boom.

After this beautiful, yet exhausting run, we made our way back home to enjoy a delicious acai bowl, stretching, and a few errands before the birthday shenanigans started for the evening. Oh, and day number two gifts were also on the agenda (#19-32)

The first place on the list: Kettner Exchange. We reserved a rooftop table for social hour with eight of the loveliest bunch. The weather was perfect and the cocktails were smooth.

Moving on to dinner: Ironside Fish & Oyster. We had only been here on one other occasion, but I cannot say enough good things about this place. We were set up with a perfect table by the window. And our waitress did a phenomenal job (considering we just came from cocktail hour). Food and company was awesome.

And for the desert: Azucar (a Cuban bakery located in Ocean Beach). This place has unique food and desserts – and I couldn’t resist ordering a cake AND cupcakes. There was an addition to the topping as well:

For our night cap, we had intentions of going to downtown and having cigars and cocktails at Cesar’s Cigar and Spirits. However, the birthday boy decided against this little adventure as there were only a couple that could go and enjoy the event. So we headed home.

Sunday, April 3^rd

We didn’t feel like complete crap, although the long run combined with not enough water or food did not help us from the day before. We had brunch at The Pearl, located in Point Loma. After brunch we headed home and the birthday boy enjoyed opening up the remaining gifts (33-40) And this completed the birthday weekend.

I think the birthday day boy rang in 40 like a champ!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Mike’s 40 gifts surprise, I unfortunately did not document the process and wrapping of each gift. However, here is a rough breakdown of what I included:

Various candies, new bourbon, workout clothes, many shirts, books, plane ride, date day, favorite snacks, old fashioned picture, a mac air, and other various gifts.

P.S. Mike’s one request (that did not get fulfilled) was to have a day at the paintball field with friends. So, if we could still make that happen, that would be AWESOME!

P.P.S. A big shout out to the birthday boy – 40 and fine! And A BIG thank you for those that were able to be part of his birthday weekend! #salsaturns40