He's not quite oooooollllllddddddd

That's according to our children.  Yep, Mark hit 39 today.  It's not been the most celebrated birthday ever.  He went to work.  He had a release tonight so has had to work on and off through the evening.  I was running around trying to get things cleaned up and working on dinner so kinda crazed.  We did eventually get everyone fed and his parents and nieces came over with cake so we could sing and get sick on chocolate cake (Costco Chocolate Cake won, 8-2, for the record).

But the kids have given him a reprieve on the age thing.  They informed him today that he'll be way ooooooooollllllllllllllllllldddddddddddddd in a year when he hits the big 4-0.

Surprise Matt!

Tomorrow Matthew turns 13.  It's kind of a big deal but he's been acting like a teenager for the last two years so he's been doing the whole "whatever" thing about his birthday this year.  Yeah, we don't play that for 13.  When Chris turned 13, Mark stayed home on Friday and took Chris over the hill to run some errands.  After that it was time for lunch so they drove to Sonic's which Chris had always wanted to try out but the nearest one was a 2hr drive.  Then they went for a drive....down to Santa Clarita where a friend had a hotel room reserved. They all went out to dinner and an arcade, got microwave popcorn and rented ppv movies.  The next day Mark told Chris he needed to do some shopping and it wasn't until they were hitting the parking lot that he realized they were headed to Magic Mountain.

Mark decided that this should be a tradition.  The Father/Son road trip when they turn 13.  They won't know where they are going or what is going on until they are already en route   We pack their clothes when they aren't looking and put everything in the car the night before.  Mark invites them to run errands which is not an uncommon occurrence and the next thing they know, they've been in the car for hours with no clue where they are going.

Today was Matt's turn.

I packed a bag earlier this week when I was folding that ton of laundry.  Last night we wrapped the presents and got everything in the Firebird.  This morning, Mark said he needed some help running errands.

2hrs in, Matt started asking questions and figured out something was up although he didn't know what.

And now?  Now he is watching Cowboys vs Aliens with his dad in Universal City and heading to Hard Rock Cafe after for dinner.  Tomorrow on his actual birthday, he and dad will both get to go to Universal Studios for the first time.  The next time I see my 2nd child, he'll already have been a teenager for over a day.

But we surprised him and kept him in the dark for hours.  And that totally rocks!