Happy Birthday Pete .. Part 1

Pete's birthday is Monday, but because the kids will be in school all day and Madie at dance class all night, we decided to celebrate his birthday on Sunday. BUT, the kids had a half day today and we took the opportunity to go birthday shopping and decided instead to give him his present today and make this "Pete's Super-Birthday Weekend Extravaganza"!!!! And, you must say that like a latino soccer announcer. ;-)

As you probably already know from previous entries, we got Madie and Noah new bikes for their birthdays. I already have a bike that I got at a garage sale a few years ago and we even have a bike cart for Livie to ride in. Yet, Pete had no bike. So family bike rides have been ellusive these past few years. That, however, has been remedied today!



Here is Pete's "Super-Birthday Extravaganza Bike"! I took the kids to the store and we were looking at all the bikes. I was looking a bit more at the prices than at the bikes at first, but once I discovered the ones that wouldn't put us in the poor house, I found several we could choose from. This bike is the one that the kids INSISTED that we get. They weren't just like, "Oh mommy, we like this one." They said, "Mommy, we HAVE to get this one". There was no budging on it. Now, I happen to like this bike. It's very retro and fit the "extravaganza" theme quite well, I thought. But, I also happen to know my husband, who's not a retro kind of guy. He's a very traditional, simple man. So, I crossed my fingers and hoped for a good reaction. :-) It's a tall bike, which is great for him. It has a really cushiony seat, which is nice for anyone. And, it awesome looking! When I was taking it out of the van, the teenage girl who lives next door (who, by the way, has never spoken to me ever) shouted across the yard "Hey, I really like that bike!". That clinched the deal for me. I mean if you get the approval of a 16 yr old girl, then I think it's a winner, right? Granted, if I tell Pete that, he'll never ride it again, but I digress...

As soon as Pete got home from golfing, we all hid behind the couch and got ready to surprise him. The bike was right in the middle of our living room for him to see, with his huge Star Wars music-playing card. Boy, are we awesome!! The kids jumped up and yelled "surprise!". I tried to take a picture of it, but my stupid camera wasn't working. I hate our camera. When I finally got it to work again, Pete was looking at me like "when are you taking the picture, lady?!!" haha That's why his expression is like that in the picture above. He had a big smile on his face only moments before, I promise you. I mean, it's his "Super Birthday Extravaganza". Of course he's happy. :-)

Here he is on his fantastic bike. Strangely he didn't keep the bow on it. Not sure why.

And, here's a closer shot of him with his bike and his Star Wars card. Did I mention it plays the Star Wars Theme Song when you open it? Yeah, Livie has played it nearly non-stop for that first hour after opening it. It may have to secretly get deactivated tonight while she's asleep. Either that or lost. After supper we brought up all our bikes and got the bike cart hooked up to his bike and all went for our first official family bike ride. The kids had a ball! Though, they haven't quite figured out that they have to watch where they're going. We had a few near collisions, but all managed to make it home without damage. Oh, and I must say that even though it wasn't really his style, knowing that the kids picked it out for him overrode any question marks he had. They were so excited about it, that he was excited too. So, Day 1 - successful gift giving. Day 2.....coming up next. :-)