Hank's Real Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Hank's 25th Birthday. He is now "basically 30" as he has been calling me for the last year. Again, I stand by my advice to marry older.


I wanted to do something special for Hank's birthday but selfishly hesitated to based on my busy schedule. Luckily, Hank has amazing family & friends who quickly responded me regarding the possiblity of a surprise party. So I started planning!



I wasn't exactly sure where to throw a surprise party, but my first thought was to check out Nickel City. We went there a week earlier on a date and LOVED it! Sure its a bit trashy... but who cares?! On my way home from work, I stopped by to check it out. I wasn't sure how much it would cost or if the party rooms were up to par.



The ancient man in the brown tweed jacket explained the 3 packages to me. Naturally, my eye looked straight to the least expensive package: $10. Yes, $10 (+ $1.50 per person for admission.) He proceeded to explain that we could bring in a cake, but not food since the other packages include their pizza. Um, their pizza looked worse than Ruthe Deskin Elementary School lunches so I explained to him that "wasn't going to work." He said we could "work something out." What exactly does "working something out" at an arcade entail? Fixing the machines after hours? After much deliberation, he decided another $10 would suffice. Done. Less than $40 for this event was more than I could ask for!


It turned out perfect. Well, almost. First, Emily had to decorate the entire room because we got there to find out we actually couldnt do it early. Second, Hank ran away from me trying to blindfold him and put in earplugs...but after a few tries, he gave up. Third, Hank insisted a package be mailed to a customer RIGHT as we were leaving. Seriously? He is so weird.


I got to drive around making wrong turns to make him lose his sense of location. This was hilarous. It worked until I dropped off his package at FedEx and he could smell Burger Supreme--of course, since it always smells like its on fire!



When we arrived at Nickel City, all his friends and family were there to yell "suprise!" Thank you to all who came to celebrate his special day. It meant a lot to him and he had a fabulous time! This really helped make up for my failure to do something the last 2 years :)



I didn't get any pictures of him blindfolded since I was busy directing him, but here are some from the night.



Hank's 25th Surprise Birthday Party at Nickel City



Just to add to the great night, the owner didn't want to charge me the extra $10 for bringing my own food. He said we were great and that wouldn't be necessary! Then he went to the back room and grabbed one of the really expensive prizes and told me to give it to Hank.



He said "see you next year!" To which I replied, "Actually we come every Tuesday!" Embarrassing.