Elevencies

Birthday breakfast before school Friday morning. . .

What''s up, folks.

So Kris and I have slowly come to the realization that our girls have, well, a ton of shit.  Like, to the point where when asked what they want for their birthday, they don't even know what to ask for - they have everything they could want or need.  Taking this into consideration, Kris has been gung-ho about giving them experiences rather than tangible gifts for their birthdays (I'm more of a 'gift' person, so I've dug in my heels with this in the past.)  

This year I relented and told Kris she could plan events for the girls' birthdays instead of just buying more crap for them (I'm not budging on Christmas, though - gifts are part of Christmas and I won't negotiate there.)  We decided to surprise Abby with a hotel mini-getaway for her 11th Birthday:  we booked a suite at the Marriot, invited a couple of her closest friends, and surprised her after school.  I had to drive up after I got out of work, so I missed the big reveal and everything, but fortunately Kris was able to capture everything sort of adequately.

Check it out. . .

 

Kris went out an picked up these gourmet cinnamon rolls from some hipster joint downtown - you don't wanna know how much they cost, it's stupid - the evening before and we stored them in my beer fridge downstairs.

Abby's a big fan of breakfast pastries, so this went over well.

The Cannonball helps herself.

Kris had the day off on Friday, so she was able to drive over to the hotel, check in, and start decorating the room.

She went with a bee theme.  Abby likes bees.   No idea why.

The big reveal.

So I'm not sure what excuse was used when bringing Abby to a hotel.  Wouldn't you kinda be suspicious if your friend's mom just brought you to a hotel?  What context would you possibly come up with to throw someone off the scent of a surprise?  Glad I wasn't a part of that ruse.

The Trio:  Sophie, Ella and Abby.

Hyper-ass kids.

Killing some time before they head downstairs and start swimming.  Folks were waiting on dinner before hitting up the pool, and I was picking up dinner on my way to the hotel.

Kris scheduled a pickup order from Olive Garden (Abby's choice, she's a huge fan of Italian food. . . if you can call Olive Garden authentic Italian food.)

Shoveling in pasta as fast as they can so they can start swimming.

This shit is disgusting.

Abby's bee-themed cake.  Kris did not make this.

After dinner, the kids decided to get the present-opening process out of the way before they started swimming.

Lots of clothes - shirts, sandals, swim suits, etc.

Kris and her mom.

Alayna likes doing this with tissue paper.  Who knows why.  I attribute this to her being 50% Farwellian.

Opening a present from Mom and John

Ella was just as excited about this as Abby was.

More gift cards

Showing Jackson the card (I guess it was funny. . .?)

Art supplies (Abby's been big into painting lately.)

A bunch of the dads in our friend group were hitting up the Tri-City Motor Speedway for some Friday night races, and hit up the Duel bar in Auburn beforehand for dinner (like we always do.)  I had been invited, but obviously had to pass due to Abby's brithday. . . so the guys sent me this picture of them enjoying greasy burgers and cold beers.

. . . so I sent them this picture in response.  Taken in the depths of the 9th circle of Hell.

Kris took the kids all down to the swimming pool after they had finished with gifts.  I meanwhile started changing into my suit.

Jackson hadn't brought any flip flops with him, so he borrowed mine (without asking.)  So I had to walk down to the pool dressed like this.   I'm a snappy dresser.

Enjoying the hot tub.

(The other kids were playing that one game where you have to swim across the pool while someone has their back turned, and if they jump in the pool and tag you, you're it.  Forget what it's called.)

Four kids in a hot tub (Sophie had a dance recital, so she wasn't here for this swim session - she'd be back later in the evening, though.)

After swimming for an hour or so, Danielle brought Sophie back over after her dance thing, and Courtney dropped some sleepover stuff for Ella.  We decided to do the cake thing while everyone was on hand, just in case folks wanted some.

Singing to the birthday girl. . .

Divvying up the spoils.

Shoveling in some sugar before heading back down to the pool.

Swimming is all the rage with kids these days.

This game.  Again.

Ladies hanging out in a hot tub.  After this swim session, Danielle took Jackson home and Courtney took off, and the rest of us settled in to the room for the night.  We watched a couple movies and the kids conked out.

The next morning, I got up early and drove home to let the dogs out, then started packing up for my weekend camping excursion with my high school friends (more to come on that later.)  In the meantime, Kris took the kids down for their complimentary continental breakfast. . .

And, of course, even more swimming.

- Brian