I put myself in charge of the decorations and my mom made up the menu. I had everything ordered and delivered to my parents house days before so we didn't have to do any last minute running around. I went with a pink, gold, and white theme. My Grandma loves pink and who doesn't love a little gold sparkle ;).
As you know from our other adventures and trips we like to leave for the voyage in the evening/night. That way we skip a lot of traffic and Jack can sleep the whole time. With Jack being a bit older and really stuck in his routine we decided to leave super close to his usual 8:00 bed time so we ended up leaving around 7.
Jack surprisingly didn't do so well. Now of course it could of gone worse, he wasn't screaming, he wasn't crying, he didn't even really whimper. He just sorta stayed awake. He would whine a little but he mostly just talked and stared out the window quietly. I felt bad because I knew he must have been exhausted but what can you do? During one of our gas stops I decided to get him out and stretch his legs. I stood him up in the driver seat and he just collapsed he was shaking and his head was darting all around. We think he was just too stressed by his new surroundings that he seemed to get the shiver shakes and that's why he wasn't sleeping. I felt terrible. All my first-time-mommy thoughts were settling in. But eventually around 2AM he fell asleep and we got to my parents house around 5AM. He even stayed asleep as we carried him in and he didn't get up that morning until around 9.
It was a very weird and difficult drive this time. I think next time we'll go back to our old method and hope for the best :).
Our first few days there were just days to relax and spend with the family. No one has seen Jack walk yet so that was the big show stopper. He's so little and so cute who wouldn't want to just sit around and watch him?! The weather was so nice why we were there, especially compared to Phoenix, so we spent almost all day every day outside on the patio.
Being Grandparents my parents went out and bought a toy for Jack to play with while he was there. They had gotten rid of most of our toys and the only ones they kept weren't really for Jack's age group. So they bought this really cool race track that Jack fell in love with. It was so simple for him to use and he picked it up right away. But more importantly it was actually a lot of fun the adults too ;). We may have played with it more than he did, but o'well.
That Saturday was the big day! I spent all morning decorating the house. I put out a pink flower table cloth with a gold sequin runner, strung up 80 pictures, hung a gold sparkly birthday banner, stuck up a "What happened in 1936" poster from Etsy, and sent my sister out to fill up the white and gold polka dot balloons and pick up a giant gold 80 balloon.
It all came together perfectly. Except when my mom "eyes in the back of my head" sense failed and Jack took all the baggies out of the box and put them on the floor :)
Even my Aunt and Uncle from Oregon got to come down for the special occasion. We all missed my cousins and especially my new little 4 month old second cousin? Cousin once removed? Whatever. My cousin's baby! But my aunt and uncle brought plenty of pictures and videos. The day was so special for my grandma. We had all her favorite foods including the infamous homemade ice cream and hot fudge.
I can't express my love for my grandma enough. She was always there for me even though she lived 10 hrs away in Oregon. She always made it a point to listen to anything and everything I had to say as if it was the absolute most important thing she had ever heard. She never doubted me and always thought my best was good enough. She beamed with pride and excitement whenever I showed her a new gymnastic trick or new dance move ;). And when she called to say hello she never rushed me off the phone or asked for my mother. She always made it seem as if I was the only one she called to talk to. She never dismissed me or pushed me aside. She always made me feel special. She is my grandmother and I hope I did her big birthday proud.
Here's to the next one Grandma!!