Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Jon Turns 30

Jon Turns 30
Jon has a special birthday.

~*~

I can't believe Jon's turning 30...and he has 8 kids under the age of 6. Yikes!

Kate's been busy planning Jon's 30th birthday. She's taking him on a surprise trip to Key West. But there is a lot for her to do before they leave.

In order to pull off this surprise, Kate planned a birthday dinner at a hibachi restaurant with Aunt Jodi, Uncle Kevin, Beth, and Cara and Mady. They're going to play up the dinner and act like *this* is his surprise. But for dessert, Jon's going to get a Florida Key Lime pie and then Kate's going to drop the bomb that the 2 of them are going to Key West.

In getting ready for the trip, Kate's having to pack for both the two of them, plus all 8 kids. Cara and Mady are heading to Aunt Jodi's for the week and the little kids are going to stay with Beth.

Aunt Jodi stops by for a few minutes to pick up Cara and Mady's clothes. She's also going to stop by the party store and get all the necessary supplies. Kate definitely seems excited to get everything ready and give Jon this big trip. Since the little kids were born, all Jon's wanted to do was put his feet in the ocean.

Everyone arrived at the restaurant a bit early and helped to decorate. When Jon got there, they yelled "Surprise" but Jon didn't seem overly excited. Although you could tell that he just really had no clue what was going on. The girls seemed to have a blast watching the hibachi chef prepare the meal and entertain the crowd.

When it was time for dessert, the key lime pie came out. Jon played into Kate's surprise and asked if it was lemon meringue. She says no, it's key lime and that he's going to the Florida Keys the next day. Seeing his reaction to the surprise was so fun and he really seemed excited. It was so nice to see Jon and Kate laughing and having fun.

The next morning, everyone got ready super early to get where they needed to go. Kate finished packing the last minute things and they dropped the little kids off at Beth's. The poor family van almost didn't make it up the hill to Beth's, but at the last minute, they were able to get the kids inside Beth's house and fly off to Florida!

Once Jon and Kate got to Key West, they just relaxed in the sun for hours. You could see that they loved just being able to be the two of them. Kate, however, didn't put any sunscreen on and turned into a lobster. It didn't seem very smart, considering that she's a nurse. As part of Jon's present, Kate got him a night cruise. Unfortunately, Kate had sun poisoning and couldn't really enjoy her time on the boat. Thankfully Jon let her put her head down and she started to feel better. Even though Kate didn't really have a good time, Jon really enjoyed it and the sunset was amazing. It makes me want to be out on the boat for a night sail.

Back at Beth's house, the kids were having fun running around and exploring a new house. Waking up from naptime, Alexis put a shirt on her bottom to look like a skirt and Leah put on her jeans backwards. It's good that they were all together and could hang out with each other.

Mady and Cara were really enjoying themselves at Aunt Jodi's. They had brought a cookbook to her house and she let them make 2 different recipes. The girls looked like they had fun with their cousins and Aunt. Kate said that one of the best things about their neighborhood was having Aunt Jodi around the corner. (Hmm...see into the future - Aunt Jodi is booted from their lives. Which is horribly sad.)

When Jon and Kate got back, the kids all congregated at the front door to greet them. Everyone wanted big hugs and kisses. It was cute to see them reunited.

Now, Jon's lamenting that they are back at home doing the same stuff, but he's glad that he had that trip. When he's overwhelmed, he said he can close his eyes and picture the beach.

SassySarah's Review: It was nice to see a husband and wife who are really overwhelmed take time to recharge and get back to being themselves. The kids were adorable, too. One thumb up.