Brendan's 30th Birthday Bash

It's not every day that your husband turns 30. What happened to that sweet 16 year old nerd that I met all those years ago? Well, he is now my sweet 30 year old nerd who I love so much and I couldn't wait to celebrate his big "30".

The plan was hatched many many months ago during a cocktail party at our apartment. It was decided that there was no better way to spend a 30th than throwing ourselves down water slides (in a desert of all places) after enjoying a few drinks at a swim up bar. What could go wrong? This bizarre combination can be found at a water park called Dreamland, about an hour north of Dubai. It is one of the older water parks around here and while it might not have the 'ooh and ahhh' factor that some of the new ones have, it certainly makes up for it with being more chilled out, serves alcohol and generally has far more relaxed OH&S standards, the combination of which can be a lot of fun! Oh, and did I mention, it was right next to Barracuda - the booze run destination for Dubai expats.....so basically it is heaven in the desert. I can't believe it has taken us over a year to get to this place.

But being true to my family heritage, a surprise had to be made of this event. While Brendan knew he was being whisked away for a weekend in the desert, he certainly wasn't expecting to show up at Dreamland to be met by a motley crowd of Hawaiian shirt wearing expat fools..hmmm..I mean, our friends! Despite the logistical challenges of transporting a cake without Brendan seeing it, we managed to pull off the surprise. Thank you everyone for co-conspiring with me on this one. You all looked awesome in your amazingly trendy shirts and sunglasses. I expect to see them being worn on Dubai streets proudly...and not shoved to the back of the cupboard for the next fancy dress costume party. Let's just hope we don't all show up to the next brunch wearing them, we wouldn't want to clash or anything!

After a few beers in the pool bar, it was off for some rides and then back to the hotel where we kicked on until the late hours of the night with some beers and birthday cake. With a little effort, and some creativity, I managed to almost replicate the cake decorations that Brendan had on his 21st birthday cake. Minus the chocolate freckles which don't seem to exist over here, it was a pretty close match. I won't be going into the cake decorating business anytime soon, but it was a lot of fun!

Thank you to everyone for making the weekend special for Brendan - it meant a lot to both of us. Now to start planning for his 40th.....maybe not just yet.
 
Until next time, lots of love

//Kate