Viva Mexicooooooooooo!

I absolutely blew Russ' 40th birthday. I was planning on sending him on a trip to Mexico to go fly-fishing. Well Swine flu hit and nobody was to travel to Mexico. Russ was not afraid of swine flu and still would have gone, but we could not convince any of his fishing friends to travel there with him, and there was NO WAY he was going by himself. So instead we had a small family party and celebrated his milestone birthday very quietly. BORING!


This year I wanted to surprise him with the trip he was supposed to take last year. In October I began planning and saving my money to send him. In January I recruited a friend in planning. Chris has been one of Russ' fabulous fishing buddies for close to 15 years (or more?). He and his wife, Carie, went to Mexico with Russ and I two years ago. Although Carie didn't love the fishing experience, Chris had a great time and has wanted to go back ever since. I spoke to Carie in January and asked if she was interested in sending Chris to Mexico for his birthday, which is two weeks before Russ'. She loved the idea. Chris was spending his spring break remodeling her hair salon and she was feeling guilty because he usually goes on a fishing trip during that time. Together we went to work. I requested time off for Russ through his boss, and contacted a fishing guide we had used before, and then we made all other necessary reservations. Carie and I booked their flights and took special consideration to give them the most fishing time, using the least amount of time away from work (Russ has taught me some good tricks for vacation planning). He got 6 days of fishing and only had to use 2 vacation days... pretty impressive planning.


On Chris' first day of spring break, his first day of remodeling the hair salon, Russ went over to give him a hand. The kids and I went over to "assist" as well. When we finished we all went out to eat. Carie and I told the boys that night about their birthday gift. They were VERY SURPRISED and VERY EXCITED. Chris said he might even make it through the remodel job without too much pain.


This last week they went on their trip. They had some wild adventures (as always), caught some good fish, hooked a crocodile, flooded a car engine, ate some authentic Mexican civiche, spoke with Spanish accents - like "Creesp and Roose", took very few pictures, and had a fabulous time (well at least Russ did- I haven't talked to Chris yet).



Happy 40th Birthday AGAIN!