The Big Three-Oh

Matt's birthday was today, and it was a BIG one... 30!  He is a really good sport about it, and we had fun making today an extra special day!  Unintentionally, his company helped out a LOT.

Matt's company had an employees + families cook out starting at 11 today.  Employees were free to eat and go back to work, eat and leave, or just leave at 11!  We opted to eat and then LEAVE--on his very birthday he only had to work a half day. :)  YIPEEEE! :)

Asa went down for a nap when we got home, and we got to relax.  The pool in our neighborhood opened last weekend and Matt had his heart set on taking Asa swimming today.  Unfortunately, Asa is running a fever off and on (I'm not sure whether to blame teething, using the church nursery for the first time, or misplacing my shopping cart cover...), and today was a fever "on" day. :-(  Poor little guy.  A fever AND no swimming as a result.  Instead, we put together the sand & water table he received for his birthday and headed to our backyard for a little splashing.

Asa loved it!  It's really cool--even Matt thought so. :)  There are 3 towers that each have some kind of pourer/spinner for the water (or sand), train cars you can place on tracks underneath the towers to collect the water, and even 2 sailboats!

We all enjoyed playing around, even Sammy!  We set up the stake in the backyard and let her pal around with us.  She seemed minorly freaked out that she was not on a "leash," but that kept her cautious and she didn't test the stake's boundaries or limitations. :)

best buds (at least Asa thinks so, not sure what Sammy thinks :))

Then we came inside and Asa gave Matt a birthday present and card from him.  Matt asked for a double picture frame for his new desk, and Asa gave him one complete with placeholders for himself and Mommy (at Matt's request). :)  Asa finished his dinner and then played a short while before bed.

After I got Asa down I finished off dinner.  Matt's request was for an herb-roasted pork tenderloin (shout out to the Schackows!), and I made mashed potatoes and corn on the cob to go with it.  After dinner he opened some cards, including one Tyson dug up that Matt had given him for his 13th birthday!!

After cards it was time for gifts.  I gave Matt a movie in blu-ray format, and tried to play it off like I ordered the wrong thing (keep reading to see why).  I told him it was not a problem and could exchange it for a dvd right away.

Next he opened a book I put together for him with letters from influential men in his life.  It was really sweet to see his reactions to the thoughtful messages sent from afar to honor and encourage him on this milestone birthday!  It was also very fun to see his surprise as he learned whom each letter was from! Thank you to everyone who wrote to him (and for keeping the surprise!).  If you're a straggler, there's still room for your letter in the book! :)

The Asa woke up (not feeling great plus I ate a TINY bit of broccoli in the pasta salad at lunch... won't do that again just in case....), I got him back to sleep while Matt finished reading his special book, and then it was time for... the first annual birthday scavenger hunt!!

I made up clues and had Matt scurrying all around the house with lots of up and down and up and down clues in a row to get him to the basement and back again. :)

In the end, he found a chair to use when he's playing his favorite video games and a bluray player.

I don't think he completely bought it when I said I purchased the wrong format of the movie earlier, but he hasn't talked about a bluray player in a long time (I totally shot it down last time it came up because I didn't know you could play dvds on it too and thought our dvds would become useless) so he had NO IDEA I had bought one (thanks for the advice, Brad!).  It was VERY fun to surprise Matt, and he loved the scavenger hunt and crazy clues. :)

Hey, you said the blu-ray disc was wrong but this is a blu-ray player!

We finished off with the dessert of Matt's choice... peanut butter cupcakes with peanut butter buttercream frosting!  Some cupcakes even have peanut butter chips baked into the cake and/or sprinkled on top of the frosting!  Everything was completely homemade... and quite scrumptious if I do say so myself!  Especially for still learning a new oven that cooks hot and fast!  The cupcakes were just right!

I think we are both sad Matt has to work tomorrow. :)  But I loved how the day stretched out with him at home today.  It was perfect!  We are looking forward to a long weekend together. :)

Happy birthday, Matt!  I love you so much, and I'm very thankful we had extra time to celebrate your big 3-0 today!

p.s.  Sammy ate the icing off 3 cupcakes (GAH!!) but so far her tummy is okay.  She is a sneak!