[kml_flashembed publishmethod="static" fversion="8.0.0" movie="http://www.curbyalexander.net/family/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/slide-show1.swf" width="640" height="480" targetclass="flashmovie"]

[/kml_flashembed]

Last weekend, we had the privilege of celebrating Gina's birthday. No seriously, it turned out to be a celebration that lasted Saturday through Monday. But we all know that she deserves it, and more. So, the boys and I wanted to make the weekend very fun and special for Gina.

Gina started the weekend with a ladies' brunch in Grapevine. She has been meeting regularly with some of her friends from First Baptist Church Euless, and this time they met at a cafe for brunch. If this gathering was like all of the others, there was a lot of smiling and laughing from all the ladies there. Later that afternoon, we all got dressed up and headed to Italianni's, a great Italian restaurant in Hurst where Gina and I had our first quasi-date.  I thought it was a date; she didn't. Well, now we're married, so it was a date. The food was amazing, as usual, and the boys loved eating their pizza and mac & cheese. Considering this was really their first excursion of the day, they behaved beautifully at the restaurant, and we can't wait to go back.

After dinner, I took everyone to Mountasia, a putt-putt/go-kart/video game place that I used to go to when I was living in Bedford. The boys had never played mini-golf, and this was also what Gina and I did for her birthday after moving to Wyoming, right after we got engaged. I thought this would be a nice trip down memory lane. What it ended up being was a trip into the ring of fire. The unofficial temperature on the mini-golf course was a bajillion degrees, and we were all sweating profusely after about two holes. This didn't stop the boys from running all over every square inch of Mountasia. To their credit, it's hard to resist running around a place that looks like a real mountain and has caves and waterfalls. I would have done the same thing at their age. In honor of Gina's birthday eight years ago, she beat me again in putt-putt. Of course, I was distracted trying to keep the boys from doing any cliff diving or rock climbing. At least that's what I tell myself.

On Sunday, we headed to Garland to spend some time on the lake with Granny and Granddad. The boys hadn't been on Granddad's boat in about a year, and we were eager to see how they liked it this time. Both boys were a little scared of the boat last year, especially when it started going fast. Well, this year, the boat couldn't go fast enough for them. They loved it every time Granddad pushed the throttle and started to speed across the water. In addition to getting to swim in the lake, I got to go tubing and Gina water skied. Let me pause here and just say: My wife rocks! She is a great water skier, even though she hasn't done it in several years. I was very impressed. After about 2-3  hours on the lake, we went back to Granny and Granddad's house and had enchiladas for lunch. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and visiting.

On Monday, we drove up to Tommy and Carol's house for some hot dogs, and yes, more cake. We had a great time catching up with everyone, whom we hadn't seen since they got back from their cruise. The boys played hide-and-seek with Kendall and Zach, and this turned out to be a great way to cap off the birthday celebrations.

I think it's safe to say that everyone had a great weekend and that Gina feels loved and appreciated. Now if I can only think of a way to up the ante for her 29th birthday next year! ;-)