enjoy the silence: the third BEST birthday ever....

SO, i have had three awesome, memorable birthdays in my lifetime. the first when i was 6. my mom let me invite my best friend over for a day of swimming at the local pool, every gift that i had been wishing for and the most extravagant cake my mom ever made me. the second was when i turned 16. my best friend threw me a surprise birthday party at her house. all my closest friends where there and we laughed, ate, danced and watched movies all night long. the third was this weekend. it started early with celebrating my anniversary with the mister. we sweet talked some kind unsuspecting friends of ours to watch the kids and we went for dinner at panera bread and then went to see kathy griffin with abby and her husband. it was a very funny, side aching night. friday was the big surprise. the mister informed me that he had made a reservation for us to go to a B&B about 30 miles away. my best friend was coming to watch the kids but since she wouldn't be able to come up until the evening, the mister decided that he would take me early and let me enjoy some quiet at the B&B and then come up later that night. i quickly packed a bag, and then off we went. the place was wonderfully quiet. the room we had was decorated pretty garishly, but for me it was a place that had a bed, tv and most importantly it was away from my children. the geek in me ended up laying in bed for 5 hours watching roswell episodes. i was in heaven. the mister finally came up later that night and we walked the main street of the town which took us a whole 10 minutes. did i mention that this town was more like a GHOST TOWN? it had maybe a whopping 8 stores, 2 pubs and 1 bakery. it was small. but i saw the most beautiful array of fireflies. i've never seen so many out at one time. it was like the fields were sparkling. what a brilliant sight. saturday morning we had a wonderful breakfast full of chocolate pound cake, mixed fruit with yogurt and granola, french toast with strawberries and real maple syrup and herbal tea. then the mister had another surprise for me. he booked an afternoon at the local spa. the small non-existent town with a whopping 8 stores, had the most luxurious spa. random, i know. the mister had me down for a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure. i was the most relaxed i've been in years walking out of there. after some bargain shopping in some of the antique stores, we headed home. my best friend had helped my girls make a fabulous birthday cake and wrap up presents for me when i got home. they hid and yelled surprise and it was fun to see how excited and proud of themselves they were. my best friend was so awesome to take 2 days out of her busy non-married life to come and watch my hyper children. it certainly was birth control for her. we took her out to our favorite mexican restaurant to say thank you. although, i don't think i will ever be able to make up to her just how wonderful she is to have helped us out. i will never forget this wonderful weekend. i'm usually not one to make a big deal about my birthday, most years i just let the day pass by. i'm grateful that the mister went out of his way to show me how much he loved me and it was nice to be celebrated. i wouldn't want this EVERY year, but once in a while is lovely.
i will now post some random pictures of this weekend....