the way we celebrated

I mentioned my sister Ali's 40th birthday a bit ago, but I didn't tell you about the away we celebrated.

Turning 40 years old is kind of milestone-ish, right?   Ty (my BIL) likes throwing parties for Ali, and he'd been trying to plan a get-together for like, a year.  The initial plan was to go away to Western NY for a few days and visit some wineries.  Mainly because Ali is a wino.  But also because a get-away is a fun way to celebrate, and why not surround yourself with alcohol for good measure?

Ty held on to the winery idea til about a month or two ago, when Alex and I got back from visiting this resort just a little bit North of NYC, the Mohonk Mountain House.  We hadn't been there in a few years, and had almost forgotten how amazing it is there.  So we started on Ty to switch it up and bring Ali there instead. It didn't take much to convince him, because he'd been there before and he knew how much she'd like it.

So he threw the idea out there to my sisters and parents, and hoped for the best.  We all of course made reservations right away (except my one sister who had just started a new job).  Ali had no idea because Ty wanted it to be a surprise.

The last time Alex and I were there, we got upgraded to, no joke, the best room(s) in the entire massive place.  Alex did some legal work for the resort a bit ago and the manager happened to notice our reservation, so she set us up in this insane room.  It was a two story room, kind of like the top two floors of a turret - I opened the doors in the bedroom facing the mountains and felt a little bit like Rapunzel.  Such a great place.  The TV rose out of this cabinet by remote control, and the drapes were remote control too.  The master bathroom was bigger than a standard bedroom - just crazy.

The top two floors of that circle?  Yep, my room.

up to the bedroom

Anyway, it was very cool.  We were thinking we may never be able to get a room that would measure up to the luxury of the last time.  

I thought if maybe Alex slyly dropped by the manager's office, we may get another shot in the rich people room, but he wasn't going for it.  Darn it.

Don't you worry, it was still awesome in steerage with the other animals.  We had a great room, we were situated close to my sisters and parents, so that was nice and convenient.  We had amazing meals and I think I gained a few pounds because you know, I love food and I have no self control.  I'm not even sure how that happened with all of the hiking, sailing, wading, paddle boating, Pacman and Galaga competing that we did.  Sheesh.

So anyway, we all met up on this massive porch overlooking the lake, slyly walking past Ali and Ty while randomly chatting, and all of a sudden Ali whipped around and saw us, so surprised.  She is a little crybaby, so she had a tear in her eye because she was so happy that we all came along to hang for a few days and celebrate with her.

We had a ton of fun - the time went by way too fast, which it always seems to do when you are enjoying yourself.  I had to get an overnight babysitter because everyone that I would normally use to watch my kids while I was away was with with me!  I was a little nervous, but it went great.  I love my babysitter.  Also, my kids are just so much bigger and less needy now, it's just a little easier to leave them knowing that they can handle it.