I have been working on Dave's surprise 40th birthday since December last year. For 11 months, I very slyly liaised with over 100 people, arranged accommodation, ferry travel, payments for B&Bs, restaurant bookings, save the dates, invitations, stickers with baby photos on them and much more, without him having an inkling I was doing any of it. All I told him was that I was taking him away to the Isle of Wight for his birthday and that I'd invited a few of our close friends along with us. This was done for 2 very strategic reasons. Firstly, if I hadn't mentioned his 40th at all, he'd have been suspicious that I wasn't making a big deal out of it. Secondly, I told him that our close friends were coming too in case any of them slipped up - which DID happen, so my failsafe worked well!
About 2 days before we left, he asked me what was happening on his birthday. I asked him what he meant and he said that he'd heard some whispering at our Halloween party. Now... it all hung on who he had heard whispering. If it had been a couple of the friends he knew would be joining us, that was fine. But anyone else and the game was up! So I casually asked him what he'd heard and he mentioned that he'd seen a friend of ours and me whispering in a corner and then he'd walked in and we'd stopped talking. WHEW! I told him it could have been any number of things and left it at that.... I still have no idea what he heard or what we were whispering about, but the surprise was still in play.
So my birthday arrived and I got predictably spoilt by Dave and after the excitement of present opening and packing the car, we were on the road, with a friend of ours and Lucy in the back seat.
All of our friends arrived at various times during that day and made their way to the cottages. Because it was my birthday, everyone was asking me what we would be doing that night and I just said that I didn't feel like doing anything and that we could just order in chinese and sit and chat... READ "We can't do anything, because if we went out for a meal, we'd run the risk of bumping into any of the 45 secret guests who have made their way to the island today in time for the big reveal tomorrow!"
And so we ate chinese, chatted, had a few drinks and a few laughs, with Lucy and another friend's dog, Stan, providing the entertainment for the evening. Everybody then retired to their cottages for the night with strict instructions that we had to leave for breakfast at 9.15am the following morning.
Morning dawned, so did Dave's 40th birthday and I was strangely nervous! He unwrapped his gifts and took a couple of phonecalls and then it was time to go. I had asked our friends to fake a petrol crisis so that they could leave ahead of us and make their way to the breakfast venue to corale everybody who was there. I had arranged for everybody to be at The Garlic Farm, where I had hired out the cafe for the morning for the Big Reveal! I got the obligatory text to say that they were all in place and we made our way. The one car in the world that Dave can spot from a mile off is his dad's and I was just hoping against hope that Steve had parked in an inconspicuous spot. I was not disappointed. Except Dave doesn't like to park in the most convenient spot ie. the vacant space right by the door, but instead likes to drive past a few convenient ones and even some inconvenient ones and ends up parking in the most inconvenient parking space there is available. And again, I wasn't disappointed. Instead of parking in the glaringly open space right by the entrance, he carried on driving. And with every metre he drove, my heart rate increased exponentially, because it was not a large car park and it was only a matter of time before we happened upon Steve's car. I, quite forcefully, instructed him to park in a space instead of going any further and blamed it on the fact that my stitches were hurting (I'd had surgery a week before).
We all got out of our cars and started up towards the cafe, which I had forgotten, had a large glass frontage. Had he been in possession of beady eyes, he could well have spotted all of his family and friends waiting for him. But fortunately, he's 40, and his eyesight isn't quite as it used to be, so I had no problems distracting him on the walk up the drive and all the way into the cafe, where he got the fright of his life looking up to cheers of "SURPRISE!". It had worked! YAY! Nearly a year of planning had paid off and we had finally made it to the day and he didn't have a clue. I was so chuffed! I unfortunately don't have a photo of his face, but it was priceless! He was shaking as he made his way around our family and friends, with a glass of Bucks Fizz bubbling away. We then all sat down to a lovely scrambled egg, smoked salmon and toast breakfast, served with fresh croissants. That was then followed by a tasting experience and a cookery class, and then a little wander around the farm, taking in some of its history. It was a really lovely morning and Dave's grin didn't leave his face for quite a long time after we left.
The rest of the day was spent at leisure, some of Dave's family came over to our cottage to meet Lucy, others went on their own merry way exploring the island and the boys later went to the pub to watch the England rugby game (I won't mention the score!).
LUCY MEETS...
Gareth... (ouch!)
Nay...
and Natalie... (I LOVE this photo!)
That evening, we went to a restaurant called On The Rocks in Yarmouth. It is one of Dave's favourite restaurants, a very unique dining experience. You are served raw meat on volcanic rock, which you then cook yourself. There is one flat price per cut of meat and you are served unlimited chips and salad with your meal.
Everybody had a great time and the evening was very festive. A really good end to a lovely day. Happy 40th birthday my Bub! :)
The birthday weekend didn't end there and the next morning a few of us went to grab a buffet breakfast at the local pub - some heads (and tummies) were VERY grateful, especially Dave's!
So all in all, a lovely weekend spent with family and friends... and a VERY spoilt and surprised 40-year old!
For all the photos, click here and here.
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