This past Saturday my husband turned 40.
It seemed to me that this is a milestone worth celebrating.
It's not every day that you turn 40, and while birthdays do seem to be a regularly occurring phenomenon, the way that we celebrate them changes vastly over the course of our lives (at least it has for me).
Despite that, I still hear of older adults celebrating their birthdays with wild parties, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I was nervous about how Husband might choose to celebrate his. (I've never thrown a wild party in my life, and I'm not too interested in starting now.)
But you know what he asked for? To go out to eat with as a family and to spend the day with the kids.
He specifically said no party. He didn't have a list of presents that he wanted to appear beside his breakfast plate, and he didn't ask me to make him a fancy breakfast in bed or a four-tier birthday cake.
He wanted nothing more than a day with his family. That I could make happen.
When he came home from work on Friday, the van was packed and his clothes laid out on our bed. I asked him to change, and with the kids hopping with excitement, we kidnapped him and headed out.
Our Little Man had asked to have a movie party with his daddy, so we had rented a few movies after school, and with me behind the wheel, the three of them watched movies while I drove us to Wilmington, my husband's college town.
We spent the weekend basking in the near 70 degree temps and enjoying the many fun activities this beach-side town has to offer.
While visiting a barbecue contest, we saw this sign beside a bridge. Be sure to read the middle rule. Honestly?
Next he chose the Fort Fisher aquarium, which totally thrilled our sea creature-loving kids.
The men got really interested in the snake tanks.
After that, although my man is not a fan of the beach in the wintertime, we went there - because our kids are. They loved racing their daddy along the water and picking up all sorts of strange shells.
They were all in their element.
We ate at two of our favorite restaurants there, this being Husband's college haunt. He got a huge kick out of our Little Man attempting to eat this monster-sized sandwich!
The boardwalk area of Wilmington is beautiful, too, with lots of artsy businesses by the water and the bridge and battleship on other side of the river. The kids loved seeing the carriages and the boats and all the people - and it was fun to watch them get so excited about the place we love to visit.
After convincing the kids that we really can't move to Wilmington right now, we headed home. It was a fun birthday all around - fun to spend the weekend together, away; fun to be without a set schedule, free to check out whatever interested us; free to linger over breakfast and watch the boats over lunch and to change the seagulls at the beach.
Best of all, though, is that this is the type of celebration my husband wanted. He didn't want the party, the loud music, the escape from home and hearth and family, but instead just quiet time together.
He's always been a family man, but I'm proud of him for being the type of father who would choose to spend his free time with his children.
For what are you grateful today?
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