Jesse's Birthday - 11/11

Jesse's Birthday is a little bit of an event around here. Some years are better thought out, but even the lame years are fun. This year might not have been as exciting as some (dog sledding, treasure hunt through REI...), but it did have a theme and was probably both what we needed: A date night out.

Jesse and I don't go out alone very often so I wanted to work that into his birthday, but if you've read about his past birthdays you know that I couldn't just say "hey, we are going out to eat and to a movie". We are big James Bond fans and it turns out the new movie was coming out 2 days before his birthday so I knew that was the movie we were going to see. Jesse also loves Thai food so I figured he'd want that as well. But still, how was I going to present this to him?

Jesse had a lot of fun the year he had to do the treasure hunt and figure out the clues he was given so I figured I'd make him do some work for his gift this year. I made up a crossword puzzle (I used this site and it worked great) which was all about James Bond... except for one clue which led him to the dryer for his actual gift. Yes, the dryer. It's been a gift giving venue ever since 2006 (including a marriage proposal).

Since his birthday was on Sunday I decided we'd actually celebrate on Saturday (thank you grandma for taking Riley overnight) and then we'd have lunch with his mom on his actual birthday. So while Riley was down for her nap Saturday afternoon Jesse filled out his crossword puzzle, and then headed downstairs to the laundry room. There he he found "tickets" to dinner and a movie in the dryer while I had James Bond theme music playing.

He needed help with a few of the clues, but got most of them on his own.

This creepy picture above wasn't really what I was planning, but Riley and I were making a card at the last minute and this was what I came up with. That's Jesse's face on James Bond. Creepy.

Grandma picked up Riley, and Jesse and I headed out to dinner. Because we are old and tired all the time we went to the 6:00 pm movie and because it was the only one with seats available past the first row. I almost pre-bought the tickets the day before (at our theater you have to reserve specific seats), but opted out at the last minute. This left us with few options when I ordered tickets online the day of. Lesson learned. So we watched from the third row. It wasn't as bad as I was anticipating even with a talker sitting on the other side of me ("holy pockets!" she said).

The movie? Well, I don't want to spoil anything for those planning to see it, but it was good. Still not my favorite (Casino Royale) and they made a decision about one particular character that I was pretty disappointed in. Anyhoo, go see it.

After the movie I insisted on picking up some cake... for me. I knew Jesse wouldn't eat any. We ended the night with some wine and me stuffing my face with a Death by Chocolate Cake. And we were able to sleep in the next morning before heading to the grandparents to pick up Riley.

On Sunday, Jesse's mom Suzie made beef stew and pumpkin pie (Jesse's favorite). We hung out a bit, ate Suzie's delicious food and headed home once Riley started to lose it.

A birthday wish from Riley

Kiddo is barely hanging on here. Thankfully, she was surrounded by her comfort items.

Overall, a successful birthday celebration. Sure, I could have played it up more (Martini anyone? Rent an Aston Martin? Ha!), but it turns out it was just what Jesse wanted. I planned this day out weeks before, but Jesse told me a couple days before that he wanted to see Skyfall for his birthday. Happy Birthday, Jesse!