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.....