Dustin's 30th Birthday

The milestone has come - Dustin is now 30!  We are more excited than he is, but I think the cake and presents helped cheer him up a little bit!  I am totally lame and ordered an iPad for Dustin like DAYS before they came out and announced they were making a new one SO Dustin ended up having to return his gift so we could trade up for the better, newer one. It would probably be helpful if I read the news a little more than I currently do and perhaps I could have avoided this mishap. :)

Celebrating Dustin's birthday was tricky this year.  His birthday fell on a Wednesday, and his church commitments on Wednesday make it so he doesn't come home until 9pm or so, after the kids are in bed.  But, we worked around this tricky fact to make sure his birthday was still special.  We started his morning off with sneaking some delicious treats in his car for breakfast.  You know, healthy stuff - a chocolate-filled croissant, Diet Coke, and a Hostess deep-fried apple pie.  At lunch time, the kids and I BARTed into San Francisco to take Dad out to lunch.

That night, we met up with Dad in between getting off BART and heading over to the church to give him a gourmet dinner of salt-and-pepper chicken wings from his favorite local Chinese restaurant.  Lyla and Hank also picked out birthday cards to give him and some balloons.  Oddly enough, we found that Hank liked to stand while holding the balloons, and did so for an impressively long time.  I think I've discovered Hank's new favorite toy - he even tried to sneak them up to bed!

I know birthdays may be getting a little lamer now that we're both busy parents, but it's the thought that counts, right?!  The kids like any excuse to celebrate and I think your kids getting excited about your special day and trying their best to pamper you is a precious and unique gift in itself.  Until next year, Daddy...