Zach’s birthday has always been at a “tough time” of the year for him. I feel bad because as a kid he grew up always having football practice on his birthday and now as an adult he still kinda gets a raw deal based on just when his birthday falls. Last year was his 30th and we had a 1 week old baby and this year it fell the same week as Kye’s 1st Day of school which meant we had Kye’s Open House that week as well as Britt’s plus we had just wrapped up celebrating Tess’s birthday. Add to that the day after his birthday we had to be in St Simons for an Aflac function!
I think I did a good job throwing Zach off that anything special would be happening. Last year was SO BIG that he didn’t have high expectations for this year which is how I like things 😉
I did end up having to give a bit of the surprise away because we had to celebrate his birthday a day early in order for everything to work out! I picked Kye up from his first day of school and he and I went to the mall to pick up Zach’s cake then met Zach and the girls at dinner. Our town just got a 5 Guys so Zach wanted to try it out for his bday dinner!
Free peanuts were a hit!
We ended up not having very good service. We usually wouldn’t say anything but it was a tad ridiculous that we were waiting on our fries when they kept giving them to employees who were just hanging out! We spoke up and ended up getting a free milkshake out of the deal 😉 YUM!
Present time!
VSU Bookstore had a HUGE sale earlier in the summer so I was able to hook Zach up with a good bit of new Blazer gear on the cheap…and was able to get him a new golf outfit to go along with his big present: He and his dad were leaving first thing the morning of his actual birthday! I had set up a day of golf for them at Jekyll Island then Mrs. Charlotte and I drove with the kids and met them there that evening. Once the kids were down to sleep in the hotel Zach and I would then go eat a fancy birthday dinner at his favorite restaurant of all time (not joking! it’s his FAV): Jekyll Island Club! It all came about thanks to the Aflac function on Saturday! From there I came up with the idea to go down a day early and have a golf experience for him with his dad and dinner that night with me 🙂 He was SO surprised and it was a great gift! I further threw him off by making up a fake itinerary for him. I put a list of all these things we were doing on his birthday and made it things I know he knows I like but that he doesn’t love all that much. Breakfast at IHop, lunch at Chicken Salad Chick, it was pretty funny and he really fell for it and it helped him be more surprised for the real gift!
Packing for the trip that night we found a shirt I had made for him when we got engaged…we joked he should wear it to the Aflac function b/c you know some of them girls are “thirsty” bahaha 😉
Zach and Mr. Rusty saw a TON of deer on their golf day!
Mr. Rusty enjoying the day with his son!
Mrs. Charlotte picked up Kye from school and I loaded up the car then we headed to Brunswick. I found us a great deal on hotel rooms that joined together! I packed the kids dinner and we hung out in the lobby waiting on Zach and Mr. Rusty to arrive 🙂
I can’t remember the last time we stayed in a hotel with the kids. Maybe it was when Britt was a new baby??? I think we went to Jacksonville when she was a couple months old! We were pretty daring to attempt a single room with three babies but I felt like for one night we could make it work. We got a suite and two double beds. We put Tess in the closet (she couldn’t fully fit inside it but the space of the closet helped!) on the side nearest our bed and Zach rigged up sheets around her pack and play to make it dark. Then we put Kye in the bed away from her and Britt on the fold out couch that was outside of a wall divider. It took them awhile to fall asleep but they did and it worked out great! I wouldn’t do it for more than a night probably and it was a HUGE blessing having Mr. Rusty and Mrs. Charlotte beside us as the next morning when Tess napped we could hang out there with the big kids 🙂
Ready for a romantic dinner!
Legit. If you ever have a chance to eat at Jekyll Island Club it’s a MUST DO! I took food pics because it was that good 😉
They have THE BEST shrimp and grits!
Free dessert for the bday boy 🙂
Our kids get PUMPED about hotel breakfast. I mean can you tell?!?!
Future bday present for Zach 😉
While Tess took her morning nap the big kids went for a swim in the indoor pool and then we loaded up. Once Zach had the car loaded we let them watch a movie until Tess woke up and we headed over to the Aflac event!
It was a good time and it worked out where none of the adults had to get in the pool 😉 So thankful to Lara’s daughters for keeping our kids occupied and happy!
I hope Zach had a really great birthday! It was fun surprising him! Gift giving is high up on my love languages (#1 being quality time) so I really do find so much joy in giving gifts to those I love and also appreciate receiving thoughtful gifts from others. I know it may not be Zach’s love language but he’s gotten used to my bday spoils for him 😉
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