August is a pretty busy month for us. Both the kids' birthdays are in August as well as our anniversary.

When Tiff and Justin were little we would take turns having the big birthday party--alternate years. We had pirate parties with treasure hunts, Strawberry Shortcake parties, Hawaiin parties, Dalmation parties, swimming parties...you name it. Every year included a family party (usually with extended family present) as well so I don't think anyone every felt left out.


As for our anniversary, Kenny was very sure we had our yearly mini-honeymoon. I remember the year I was pregnant with Justin. We left Tiffany with my parents and went camping. The picture I have in my mind of me being nine months pregnant climbing over logs still makes me laugh. My favorite though was the year Kenny took me back to our "ole stomping grounds"-- where we met, dated, and married. He found a vacation house next door to the house I was living in when we first met that we rented for the weekend, then took me camping in the same campground we first camped together in. It was all very romantic. Our mini-honeymoons have somewhat fizzled over the last few years but we now get to do so many fun trips and we have so much time to ourselves the need for time alone isn't as pressing.


This year both the kids are out of the house so spending their birthdays with them seemed so much more necessary for some reason. We met Justin, his girlfriend and her family in a little town in the mountains and played for the weekend--fishing, swimming...eating. It was so re-assuring to see Justin truly happy and fitting in so well with them. (We are very blessed to have known her parents since before they were even married!)


(This is a picture of Ken and Justin practicing their scowling.)



For Tiffany's birthday, her boyfriend decided he wanted to surprise her with a camping trip...
and he pulled it off really well! I was definitely surprised. It rained all of the first day, but my eagle scout of a husband would have made the boyscouts proud. We enjoyed, fly-fishing, huckle berry-ing, campfire singing...and even saw a black bear. A truly fun weekend.

( This picture was taken at my niece's wedding the weekend before our camping trip--Tiff's the cute one.)

I have discovered this year that even though we no longer celebrate with pirates and clowns, birthdays are still exciting, interactive, maybe even cheaper and certainly less stressful. It's more like celebrating with dear friends and less with your toddlers. Gifts are still fun but usually more practical, definitely bigger. The party is more about the adventure and just being together than about "let's see how many friends we can fit into the living room". Don't get me wrong, I still miss those--the planning, the cake. But right now...I wouldn't trade this year's parties for anything!