Surprise!

The party started this week when my sister Libbie came into town from S. Carolina.  In recent years she has become a personal trainer/boot camp instructor so she put her skills to use on Wednesday morning with a Zumba workout in my kitchen.

 

 

Even though it was just the 2 of us I felt like I got the full experience.  Libbie doesn't hold back when she leads a workout.

 

 

Post workout selfie--very Libbie"esque".

 

That afternoon we went out with a group of my friends for a birthday lunch for me and one of the other members of the group, Emily, who has a birthday the day after mine.  Because it was a big birthday for me Emily gave me 40 suckers with a sign that said "40 sucks". Very thoughtful.

 

 

Good thing Libbie is blonde or she may not have fit into the group. ha ha I never realized that I'm the only brunette in our lunch group.

Hilary,Carrie, Libbie, Erica, Emily and Lacie

On Monday I was trying to come up with something fun to do for my birthday.  It just happened to be during fall break this year and the kids would out of school.  I had the idea to take the family to Lagoon since it would be open because of the break, but after calculating the non season pass cost for our entire family for one day Adam just said, "Why don't you just go with Libbie."  I thought it sounded like a great idea so I pitched it to Libbie who said that my text about going to Lagoon made her laugh out loud but she was game. What? Don't most 40 year olds want to go to Lagoon without their kids for their birthday?? It's perfectly normal, right? Once Libbie and I decided we were definitely going I texted Heather to see if she wanted to "throw caution to the wind" and come down a day early for a girls Lagoon trip. It took some finagling on her part, but she made it happen and the 3 of us ran through the gates giggling like school girls at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday morning.

Frightmares at Lagoon

Heather showing off her amazing outfit. She got cold and used Libbie's extra shirt.

We left the park for lunch (best decision ever) and had a super delicious (and healthy) lunch at Zupas.

Back at the park the adventures continued, like when our car broke down in the middle of Dracula's Castle and the Lagoon employees had to push us out of the ride.  We were packed pretty tightly in the little car and were laughing so hard we were crying. Apparently when our car stopped it stopped the entire ride and they couldn't resume operations until they got us out of there. Hmm, maybe we shouldn't have tried to all fit in the same car. . .

 

It was definitely a first for all of us.

 

We ran into my cousins' wives Jenn and Cassie. What are the chances? Always nice to get caught up.

At the end of the day and after all of the roller coasters Heather finally admitted that her favorite ride at Lagoon is the Lady Bug Bop in kiddieland so we waited in line with all of the little kids and took our place next to them on the ride.  She was right, it really is one of the best rides at Lagoon. It is a bit silly to go on a kids ride without kids, but we were glad we did it and I promise I didn't push any little kids out of the way to get to it. he he

In line for the Lady Bug Bop

Our favorite ride of the day? The Rocket. I think we went on it 6 times.

 

The last time we rode the Rocket we pulled out the hoods since it had gotten a little nippy.

 

As we were leaving the park we walked past this photo op with Zombie Chainsaw people and thought to ourselves, "Why not?"

 

I concluded that there are still some things scarier than turning 40.

 

We left the park around 8:00 p.m. and when I walked in my house after dropping Heather and Libbie off at my parent's house I was more than a little surprised to find that Adam, my parents and the kids had spent the day painting the family room and kitchen. Surprise!

 

My house has needed to be painted forever, and has been bothering me for some time, but it seems that there is never a good time to start such a big project since my attention span for painting is about 15 minutes and I knew it was going to take a lot longer than that!  To put it lightly I was more than thrilled it was happening and that it was happening without me! They painted the ceiling white and the walls the same color we used in our basement.  It looks really good.

 

Not only was the painting getting done but my parents had an Electrician come to our house to install a chandelier that we have had sitting in our garage for a few years now.

 

 

For 8 years we have had this little dorky light fixture in our 2 story entry and now we finally have a honest to goodness chandelier.  It looks soo much better! Yep, my family knocked it out of the park for my 40th birthday.

 

As I dropped Libbie off on Thursday night she said she had a fun workout planned for me at 8 a.m. the next morning and then asked me if I had keys to the church.  I told her that my birthday present to myself was a long bike ride out to Porcupine Dam, but she told me it wouldn't tire me out too much and would be fun.  The next morning I picked up Heather and Libbie and went down to the church building for whatever workout Libbie had planned.  I was more than a little surprised when I walked into the gym and found this:

 

Lea, Lacie, Emily, Kristen, McKenna, Libbie, Hilary, Erica, Andrea and Heather

Libbie had planned a "Boot Camp Surprise Birthday Party" for me.  Since everyone around here goes out of town during fall break I was surprised they were able to find enough people to even have a party!  It was definitely a surprise because really, who would ever see this coming?? 

 

At the end of our workout led by Libbie we each took a shot of some super healthy green juice concoction and had some fruit and banana bread.

 

 

My friends were really good sports and we had a fun morning workout together.

 

After my surprise boot camp workout I did go on my long bike ride and my family finished painting the kitchen and family room while I was gone. It was awesome to come home and have it all done!

 

 

Then it was off for a session at the Temple.

 

 

It was just after 4 p.m. when we left the Temple and we were hungry, so on the way home we decided on a place for dinner and told Adam and my Dad to start getting ready.  By 5 p.m. we were at Kabuki Japanese Steakhouse waiting for our chef food show to begin.

 

 

It was so fun and the food was delicious. Definitely a good choice for my 40th Birthday dinner.

 

I don't think I could have packed more in or had any more surprises for my big Birthday. Thanks to my family for making it a very memorable way to start a new decade of life.

 

As luck would have it the Pumpkin Walk was on this week so Libbie and Heather got to experience small town America with us on Saturday morning before Heather left for home.

 

The theme was "American Heroes" and there was enough patriotism, guns and praying pumpkins to be a Kristen approved event.

 

Photo Op.

 

This display pretty much sums up how we all feel about the Presidential Election between the "Pathological Liar" and the "Narcissistic Buffoon".  It's a no-win situation and I refuse to vote for either candidate.

Obligatory picture in front of the Despicable Me height board.  Libbie just aced out Jameson this year.

 

It was a great week and hopefully not too boring for the kids who stayed home and worked hard during their break.  Our house looks so much better so I hope they enjoy the fruits of their labors.