Michael's Birthday Weekend

We love birthdays around here. This last weekend was Michael's 42nd birthday and we celebrated the heck out of it. Friday morning Clark picked up the boys for their week with the grandparents. I was teary when they left, but also elated. I had physical therapy for my wrist in the morning and then cleaned the house, picked up the cake and went to get my hair braided for the pool party. (With my right wrist out of commission, I can't do anything cute with my hair on my own.)
Michael got home just in time for us to put on our suits and head over to my parents' pool. We had the party catered by Freebirds Burrito and they came out and put up quite a spread. I loved how easy this made the whole party. Totally worth it in my opinion. We put out the party favors- custom t-shirts that read, "Tonight I'm going to get it WET on both sides!", which no one knows the true meaning of but has become a favorite story/catch phrase of Michael's, and fashion sunglasses for the ladies. We all partied like rockstars at the pool and Michael and I both had SUCH a good time. It was the most fun I've had at a party I hosted in a long time. We played bocce ball and had a most excellent chocolate flan cake created by City Bakery. I can't say enough good things about the bakery. If you live in the area, you must stop by and try their confections.
We got to sleep in on Saturday and it was so awesome. It's amazing how much controlling, sleep-obsessed Amber disappears when I don't have to worry about the children. We rose slowly and did some chores and then flopped on the chaise lounges in the middle of the day to watch the new Star Trek movie. So. Decadent. After the movie, we packed up and drove to Austin and checked into the Hyatt on town Lake which was free for us because we used points. They handed out free drink cards for the bar as we checked in and after we dropped our stuff off upstairs, we headed right down to the bar. We shared a sushi roll and had our drink and then drove up to sixth street. We had balcony package tickets to the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz to see Master Pancake make fun of Labyrinth. The balcony package is expensive but it was so wonderful! Parking was included and they whisked us up to a private balcony with leather recliner loveseats. We had great service and we felt so posh! The show was hilarious. We want to go to all the master pancake shows at that theater from now on. Michael loved it!
I offered to hit the bars after the show with Michael, but he declined, saying he'd rather leave those memories the way they are and not tarnish them with reality. We went back to the hotel and watched Breaking Bad instead. ;)
Sunday morning was Michael's real birthday! I gave him a present of a new iphone running case. We decided to go for a run and try it out, so we threw on our running clothes. We hit the hike and bike trail around Lady Bird Lake and ran all the way to Mopac and back, completing at least five miles. We felt great! We showered and then checked out of the hotel and had a lovely vegan lunch at Casa De Luz. It was so yummy!
We came home and Michael worked for a bit while I took a mid afternoon nap. We then drove down to New Braunfels to Martha and Clark's apartment to have a birthday dinner with them and the kids. Clark had made a delicious dinner and the kids had decorated the apartment and made us all homemade party hats. It was so sweet! It was great to see the kids and kiss them and snuggle their heads and then when the "witching hour" started where they start to go crazy, it was great to kiss them good-bye and gently shut the door and run for freedom!
Michael packed to leave for this third week in a row in Laredo. We pulled out the leftover birthday cake and the vanilla porter a friend had gifted to Michael and curled up in the lounge to watch MUD on the TV. It was a wonderful movie and a nice way to end a fabulous birthday weekend.