brian’s birthday!

Last weekend was Brian's birthday!! We celebrated in style and I'm still thinking about that ice cream cake. :) Happy birthday to you, lovie!

Sarah showed me a new iphone camera setting that made photos look much more professional than what I'd been using. I practiced this new discovery by requesting a few pictures of the man of the hour with his family members. They turned out great!

Onto the party! I really wanted Brian to feel special on his birthday. Past birthdays have been low key, but this time called for a little more festivity. Bill and Maura drove up with Sarah and Elena and we went out to eat before heading back to our house for dessert. 

The theme for the party was "air crash investigations" which is Brian's favorite series to watch. We've watched most of them together. The life-or-death drama, combined with Brian's general love of flying and engineering, makes for a great (and cheesy) show. I wasn't sure how to turn that into a birthday theme, though. But after several trips to several stores, a plan started to take shape. I bought plastic toy airplanes, wooden rescue vehicles, lots of blue streamers, and an ice cream cake (a.k.a. the crash site). And then I realized I needed a Black Box. This is the most critical and coveted object in the entire investigation because it holds the pilot voice recorder. I put together this box of investigative things, which included: an origami plane (that took forever to fold), safety glasses borrowed from Christina, a detailed Boeing 747 schematic, evidence bags containing aluminum foil (an inside joke with Brian because the show's commentator has a British accent and often says "aluminum" but pronounces it "aloe-MINI-um"), and a personalized (read: homemade) National Transportation Safety Board ID badge. It was pretty fun.

Sam facetimed us and joined the party.