A Niagara Valentine's Day Surprise!

Valentine's Day is an extra special day in our house as it is also my husband's birthday.  We feel very strongly that everyone deserves to have one special day every year that is all about you.  This is difficult when you share your birthday with a special event.

I have a friend whose birthday is right before Christmas so every year another friend randomly picks a day throughout the year to celebrate her special day.  It doesn't happen right on her birthday but at least she gets to have a day that is all about her!  This made me feel that I needed to make my husband's birthday extra special.

On mine and Jim's first Valentine's Day together I felt really guilty accepting a gift from him and I felt terrible that he had to share his special day with pretty much everyone in the world.  I tried hard the next year to do something really special and surprise him but low and behold, he beat me to the punch and planned Valentine's Day at our favourite Niagara restaurant and bought me a beautiful necklace!

The next year we had a brand new baby and we decided to stay close to home.  He surprised me with an amazing dinner in  and a beautiful bracelet.  You can imagine how I felt giving him a lousy new pair of jeans.  From that moment on I decided that Valentine's Day was no longer Jim's birthday.  We would celebrate Valentine's Day with the rest of the world and do something extra special on another day.

The next year I planned a surprise party for him at a local pub a week before his birthday.  He was definitely surprised and thrilled that his friends could all come because they weren't celebrating Valentine's Day with their significant others.  The next year I waited until after his birthday.  Just when he thought I wasn't going to celebrate it at all, I surprised him with dinner at our favourite restaurant and then a night out with all of our friends.

We work very hard at keeping the fun in our relationship and surprises are a big part of it.  We both LOVE surprises and it does get difficult to top each other year after year.

This year Jim totally blew me away by having local artist Jordan Newhouse paint "Chardonnay Rows in Summer."  The painting is beautiful and something I would NEVER have guessed that he would have done for me.  He's still got it after all these years!  He even hung it on the wall so I saw it when I came into the room.

I will feel no guilt, however, when he receives my gift this year.  When I sat down to think about what my husband would love more than anything I realized parties and fancy gifts isn't it.  Each year we are trying to outdo each other  but the truth is, we both already have everything we want.  How can I make OUR FAMILY his birthday gift?  Simple answer: Fern Resort!

We will spend four days at the family resort in Orillia.  We don't have to fly anywhere - it is just a few hours drive north of here and the most kid friendly place I have ever been!

It may not be the romantic getaway that other couples would plan but I know it is exactly how my husband will want to celebrate his special day - with his family!

And the best part is, he doesn't know yet.  He will be finding out the same as you when he reads this blog.

Happy Birthday Darling!  I Love You!