Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Number Thirty-Six

There's pros and cons to sharing your birthday with a twin. The con, of course, would be that there is no one day in the year devoted just to you. I mean, even Mothers' Day we are still celebrating OUR mothers. But, as I'm a person who does not enjoy being the sole center of attention, I very much appreciate this con. And, as for the pro - with another person sharing this day, it gives double the reason to celebrate - and always someone to celebrate with. We like that a lot!

So, despite our best planning last year, the actual "day-of-our-birthday" was kind of a bust. We tried to make it special, but it was a weekend, folks were tired - and it just kind of felt flat. This year, the day landed on a Tuesday which meant it was up to just Michele and I (and kids) to do the celebrating - we kind of went with the flow - and it totally worked.

Who would have thought, that deciding to head to the beach would have profited us such great weather compared to the valley? Lincoln City was gorgeous..... This is a picture of Taft Street, I've actually never been down it, and to the Mo's in this town - but, that's where Michele wanted to eat, so that's where we went.
Mo's (at different locations....) brings back a lot of memories- eating there with so many different people in our life. It was hugely crowded at 2:30 on a Tuesday, obviously, we're not the only ones who like their food.
Not a terrible picture of the five of them - someday, we'll nail it.
John would be proud of me - in true Riley fashion, I asked our server if "you do anything special for twins turning 36 today?" She smiled big and said she'd come out with a surprise. We were rewarded with marionberry cobbler and ice cream on the house. She was rewarded with a bigger tip.....
Outside of Mo's the kids liked the rocks - a great shot of our "all too big" boys
And, the current desktop picture on my laptop-
Finally, around four, we hit the beach. The longer the day went on, the warmer it got. We didn't leave until nearly 6.
They started out tentative, but once they started getting wet, they went for it. That water was SO COLD - they are troopers to do what they did.
Unfortunately, Brayden lost his footing (a couple of times) and ended up drenched-
Mikayla was not too far behind-
Happy birthday, "best sis in the world" - you are one blessed woman:
This was stop #2 after the waves - getting filthy in the creek. Stop #3, which I don't have a picture of, had them climbing the sand/clay hillside and running/rolling down it. Needless to say, their clothes will never be the same (we did pack smart, though - been down this road a few times, so they all had warm sweats to change into when we returned).
On the way home, Mikayla asked if I'd had a good birthday - she probably asked five different times yesterday. I said, "Oh Yeah, not bad for a couple of moms, huh?" She said, "Uh huh". Ellie said it was her favorite birthday out of all of them - even better than hers.....

I agree. Really, one of my favorite "day-of birthdays". Maybe because the expectations were lower, the day had to get better. But, really, for me, I think it was because of the huge amount of tangible expressions of love from those who know me. Whether it was the kids - so selfless towards me yesterday - huge!, or the many Happy Birthday songs sung over my cell phone (try saying that five times fast) - or the expressions through emails or comments - I just really felt loved. It's a great birthday present.....

6 comments:

StephieAnne said...

A couple of things I forgot to mention:

1. Those creepy people that stole my computer proceeded to download about $200 worth of NASTY music from i-tunes. My email had already been logged on, so they simply requested to change the password from i-tunes, had it come up in the email, and went to work ordering music. We canceled the card that was used and are on a fraud alert through the credit reporting agency, but, man it was just icky having these receipts from I-tunes all of a sudden appear on Monday night and realizing, "this really did happen".....

2. We did NOT plan on wearing the same outfits. That happens to us a lot because we have similar body types, gravitate towards similar styles, and know what makes us look slimmer on a day like yesterday. Black will do it.....

StephieAnne said...

Stephie commented on hoping Mikayla felt better - that would be because bad Mommy didn't give her any Dramamine before we did the windy coast route. At Rite Aid (where we stopped for Dramamine as soon as we got to Lincoln City for the trip back) she ended up throwing up in the parking lot while I was on the phone with Steph. (Real attentive mom, huh?- at least Mikayla has been down this road and handles it well).

I know this is way TMI, but the kids were all grossed out when they came out of the store to see a bunch of ravens pecking at what she left behind - DISGUSTING!

Anonymous said...

Chele said...
Thanks Stephers for contributing to such an incredible b-day. You are beyond the best and well you know how much I love and appreciate you.
I have to also brag on my honey for being very romantic in providing an exceptionally sweet card with additional nearly-poetic personal sentiments to follow. I am so blessed. As Steph mentioned, for myself as well, I felt immensely showered with "happy birthday greetings" from so many dear friends/family members (including my sweet kids as well). It was definitely an especially fabulous birthday to remember! :)

HollieHobbie said...

How do you do Mikayla's hair like that? I have tried on Molly and just cannot seem to figure it out.....

Stephietoo said...

I love you guys so much and can't wait for saturday. I am glad you had a great b-day, but really did miss seeing you......

StephieAnne said...

Hollie, asking me, for hair advice? It's just a french braid starting about a third off-center--- Mikayla has the right head shape for it. I can do it with Nati and Ellie, but their hair lies a lot differently.