Mark’s 40th birthday

Last weekend we celebrated Mark’s 40th birthday. 40! Man, that feels weird to say. Every year we spend Mark’s birthday out in the desert with some friends. We’ve been doing this since before we had kids and its such a fun tradition – and now our kids look forward to it as much as the adults. “Things being on fire” seemed to be the theme of the weekend. There was a huge wildfire on our way out. And read on . . . there was more fire excitement at the resort. The kids think the luggage cart is a jungle gym on wheels. Mark’s parents have timeshare points that we trade in for this resort, and we’ve become adept over the years at knowing exactly when to book so that we can get the “penthouse”, which includes a huge balcony and our own hot tub.  Grilling with a view of the desert mountains is Mark’s happy place. Having a spa to themselves is the kids’ happy place. We spent lots of time at the pool. And on the lazy river. We took breaks for movies . . . And golf . . . . . . and pop tart ice cream sandwiches. DO NOT JUDGE IT’S VACATION. The big excitement came when we were at the pool and looked up to see the unit under ours billowing with smoke. The grill had caught on fire and it was blazing. We were worried it might catch fire to our balcony but the sprinklers came on just in time. Of course, we could not stop singing “This! Grill! Is on fiiiii-re!” for the rest of the day. The kids did a golf clinic on Saturday. Kembe told us he was “measuring the ball” . . . a technique he learned on tv. Mark and his friends also got in some rounds of golf. This is the view of their game from our balcony. In the evenings we had fun talking and reconnecting. A toast to Mark! (It’s sparkling cider) On our last night we took a sunset stroll out on the golf course- a yearly tradition. The kids like to run around and look for frogs and rabbits that come out as it gets dark. We also had lots of dance parties. He may be 40, but Mark can still get down. Happy birthday to my vintage dude!