Birthday weekend washout

A special birthday surprise weekend away for Gareth had been planned. He picked up his first clue in the car after work on Friday - a CD with 'Just another day in Paradise' (Phil Collins) playing. As soon as he heard the first few bars on the song, he knew that we were heading up to Rosemary's (aka 'paradise'). Little did Gareth know that Sarah & Mike, Anna, Owen and the girls were also heading up north that night in preparation for a surprise birthday party on Saturday night. At one point we actually drove right passed them as they were stretching their legs....Gareth didn't see a thing!

We arrived about 10pm to our usual wonderful greeting and knew we would sleep well. A late start on Saturday to open presents on the deck, skype with family and eat an amazing brunch.



New t-shirt




Showing Mum & Dad the new shirt



Presents from all over the world!

And then for the second clue...a card with a kiwi call. All was becoming clear.



Well, actually, everything was becoming cloudy and then the heavens opened for 18 hours of non-stop torrential rain. Little did Gareth know that we had the tent set up with balloons and fairy lights for the evening!!

So, Rosemary and Hannah devised a plan as to why we needed to go to a special cafe for afternoon tea and why Rosemary needed to take her mobile home. But, when we arrived, who should be there to surprise him? Ruby jumped out and said "boo", then handed Gareth an invitation to his own birthday party!







Despite the rain, we continued with the BBQ and camping expedition. Ruby and Leah loved the adventure, jumping in every puddle (which were appearing every minute!) with their wellies. We decided to abandon our tent and sleep in Sarah and Mike's van, which turned out to be a very sensible idea as the tent was flooded with several inches of water by the morning!





Transporting slightly damp bedding from tent to van











Birthday cake, complete with football candles from Grandma!



Ruby doing a great job of helping Gareth open his presents.

Morning views as we emerged from the van and rescued the tent...









Needless to say, it was a quick pack up, tea and toast in Rosemary's mobile home and then a drive back to Auckland!

What a memorable weekend with great friends :-)