Monday, January 30, 2012

dave's birthday surprise: #1

i have been bursting with excitement for dave's 30th birthday (much more than he has ;) he set the bar pretty high last year for my 30th birthday and so i have been thinking and planning for the past year (although let's be honest, i did a lot of thinking throughout the year but the planning/action happened at the last minute. i am such a procrastinator). he's not really a party type of guy, so i had to get creative (although he suspected i was throwing him a party. he knew i had sent out some type of email to at least his family). and if i do say so myself, i did good! i tried really hard not to act too over the top excited though. i didn't want him to get suspicious. almost a year ago (last february) i saw this idea on a blog and decided i wanted to make a birthday photo wall from friends and family. so i hacked his facebook and email accounts and sent out a mass email asking for help. so many people really came through and i loved that dave got birthday greetings from near and far. 
dave had to be leave for work at 6:30 am and so not much happened before work. i did run to burger king while he was in the shower and surprised him with breakfast. i know, i'm amazing ;) he took a half day and i had the photo collage up when he got home. we greeted him at the door with party blowers and logan gave him the birthday card he colored. 
here's a side story about the birthday card. logan colored it a couple of days before dave's birthday and got really into it. i was obviously busy doing something else because when i came to check on him this is what i found:
he even had it in his ear! that night when dave got home logan excitedly told him that he had colored his birthday card! so much for surprises (not that logan's body art wouldn't have tipped dave off that some sort of project was in the works!). then dave noticed the photo wall!
it was a hit! i loved seeing his reaction and we enjoyed having it up for a few days. i gave him a photo album to keep the pictures in, along with some notes and memories some of the people had sent along with their photo. 
a few close up shots of the collage. i loved how creative people were.
little did dave know this was just the first of 2 surprises...

dave's birthday surprise: #2

on the back of the photo album that i gave dave i taped a clue to kick off the scavenger hunt leading to his birthday present, surprise #2. 
 To discover your present here’s what you must do,
carefully follow each simple clue.
In the end we’ll determine if you’re a sleuth,
And are skillfully able to uncover the truth.
after he read the above introduction, i gave him his first clue and a basket to collect each of the items along the way
and he and his trusty sidekick were off. don't make fun of my clues ;)
 Logan has recently discovered a love,
dropping this item into his piggy from above.
You’ll find this item has made it’s home
in a fancy container made of stone.
item = quarter
There’s 52 of these found in pack,
Like a Queen, King and Ace and even a Jack.
We keep these safely in a spot
With other games we don’t play a lot :(
item = deck of cards
 While I was pregnant you waited for me,
To request a midnight run for one of these.
While Colorado lacks your first choice for one,
We can still make our own that are pretty yum, yum!
item = picture of in-n-out burger logo
  Single prop, Cargo and 737 are each a type,
Of this form of transportation, and can cause quite some hype.
This item won’t be found very far
From other ways of moving like a train, truck or car.
item = toy airplane
  
When you’re not at your home and need someplace to sleep,
Just find one of these to take a load off your feet.
One of these in particular is quite grand,
You’ll find this clue where your head at night lands.
item = picture of the mgm grand hotel
 Now you’ve collected all of your clues,
And your mission now, if you so choose,
Is to try and determine the common link,
And we’ll see if your present is what you think.
trying to figure it out
finally he looked up at me questioningly and asked, "are we going to las vegas?"
i handed him an envelope and told him he'd have to check to see if he was right. it was our flight itinerary! he was a little in shock and it was awesome!
it was so hard to keep the trip a secret from him because i was so excited for it. luckily we only had to wait for 5 days after his birthday to go (i had checked with his boss before i booked the trip to make sure that he could take the time off).  

and here's a random picture of emma from during the scavenger hunt. obviously she was having a fun time too! 
that night we celebrated with his parents at red robin, followed by games and caramel brownies with some friends (which i forgot to take pictures of).
the ring pop wrapper kept emma entertained (while the ring pop itself kept logan happy)
stay tuned for a lot of posts about our trip to vegas!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

january photo hodge podge

this month we...

emma practiced her downward dog

 emma's now a tummy sleeper
 and to prove dave and i still exist...
a double date to the colorado mammoth (indoor lacrosse) season opener. sooo fun!