My Fantastic 43rd Birthday ‘Party.’

BaskinRobbinsGrandmotherWhat a great weekend! As many of you know from Facebook, Sunday was my birthday, which has never been big deal to me. As a kid with a summer birthday I was always away from home (Anderson, SC). I was always at Camp Greenville away from my everyday friends, so it just wasn’t a big deal. Well, enter my sweet girls.

This weekend was pretty awesome. We all woke up late and as we finally piled in Jen’s van, we debated where to have lunch. Since it was my birthday and the kids were making such a big deal of it, I sat in the 3rd back row with Finley all day. After some thought, I shouted from the front, “How bout Groucho’s mommy?”  “Yay!, three girls yelled.” For me, Groucho’s is super kid friendly. More importantly, it gave me an opportunity to support my friends Drew and Suzanne Hampton, which I’m all about. After a fun lunch I bought a T-Shirt, of course! (I love marketing and branding my friends endeavors anywhere I can!)

Next stop was Baskin-Robbins. I chose the flavor I’ve ordered for 30+ years, “Daquiri Ice.” As you can see from the pics, Ivey and Nora preferred my flavor over theirs, so much so we had to order another cup of it.

After our sugar rush we headed to Grandmother and Grandaddy’s house for a surprise visit. My grandparents haven’t seen the kids since Christmas so we traveled to Stepp Drive in Forest Acres for some good quality time. The girls were perfect and I think Grandmother and Grandaddy enjoyed it, big time.

Next stop was home where Ivey and Nora and I tried to sneak a nap while Jennifer and Finley went to get me a prize. Finley was going crazy to get me something because we made a big trip to Just The Thing to get a proper Mother’s Day prize for Jennifer some months ago. After almost two hours they came home with the God-awful-est necktie in all of the Target Stores system. It’s a sea-foam green tie with a swordfish pattern. It’s the thinnest tie I’ve ever held, and I’m not sure how I can possibly make it work with ay of my collars. Jen said they went to Target thinking they’d get a C9 brand shirt I could wear to the pool or something, but when Finley saw that tie, “she had to have it for her daddy.” Sounds perfect to me….

Finley gave it to me as I was waking up so I was kinda groggy. She said, “Daddy, daddy, it’s for, you know, when we go on those romantic nights with, you know, the George’s, daddy!” I sat up and said, “Oh, got it babe,” and gave her a huge hug. BTW…the dynamics of any “romantic night out” with the George’s means 10 people. Ten. I love my tie and maybe one night I’ll wear bandana Rambo style around Litchfield/Pawley’s Island and label myself, “Arrogantly shabby.”

The day ended with a loop around the ‘hood and a few hours at the pool. If you know me, this has become my happy place with family and friends.

A nice bonus was all of the Happy Birthday Facebook shout outs, and to top it all off a Realtor hand delivered an offer to Groucho’s for 7 Lakecrest Drive.

What a great weekend.

Thank you!!

Franklin Jones

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