John's birthday is Tuesday. I was trying to come up with a present that I knew he would LOVE, would remember for a very long time, and would be something that would suit his personality.
John's dream job would be to take flying lessons to become a pilot and then own his own air charter service. He LOVES the ocean/beaches, golf, lighthouses, and flying. What better gift than to take him up in a small 4 seater plane for an aerial tour of Charleston?
I found an aerial tour service online called Flying High Over Charleston. For an awesome price I got John and I the 70 minute-70 mile tour which covered about 40 miles of coastline, the historical downtown area, lighthouses, down to Kiawah over the famous Ocean Course, and various other sights.
I was able to keep the secret from him for a whole week :) I had arranged for my parents (you are so awesome mom and dad) to watch the kids for a big chunk of the day and just told John we would do something together to celebrate his birthday.
So my mom and sister Mallory came to Max's football game Saturday morning and then took all 4 kiddos back with them to my parent's house. John and I came home for a few minutes then headed to lunch.
We went to a new pub in the area called, O'Brions Pub. It fit the bill perfectly because they had big flat screen t.v.s covering every wall! One of the employees came over and asked John which game he wanted top watch and changed the channel on the tv above our booth to...what else...the Wolfpack game :) Oh well, it was his birthday lunch...I wasn't going to complain that he had his eyes on the tv the whole time! We had an AWESOME lunch then I told him I had something in mind for us to do but I wasn't going to tell him what it was. We paid the check and headed out. John kept asking where we were going but I wouldn't tell him. At one point he asked if we were going flying and I stuttered to recover, I couldn't believe he asked that!
As I got off the exit to head to the airport he kept asking where we were going and what we were going to do. I told him we were going to watch planes take off...he was actually okay with that. When I turned into the building for the charter service though he started asking questions again. Finally, I pulled into the parking space, turned off the car and looked at him. He had this questioning look and a funny grin on his face and I told him he was going flying. At first I don't think he believed me then he was like, "REALLY?????". We got out of the car and went in the building to check in and as we sat in the lobby area and looked out the huge glass windows at the (incredibly too small) planes I think it started dawning on him that it was real :)
Finally, our pilot, Jim, came over and introduced himself and once we walked outside it finally hit John that this was really happening. Jim was talking to us about the plane and his experience. I got into the back seat (it was a 4 seater) and as I was sitting back there I was looking out the window at John standing next to the plane listening to the pilot. He could not wipe the silly little boy excited grin off his face :)
I told John to sit next to the pilot up front because he was going to get a chance to take the controls during the flight. Part of him wanted to sit in the back with me but the biggest part REALLY wanted to fly the plane...I didn't mind...him taking the controls was one of the selling points of the tour for me.
Jim went over all the dials and gadgets with John and we got our headsets on and were on our way!
My handsome co-pilot. Can you tell how excited he was :)
Flying over/around/near the Ashley River
Double Diamonds
Okay folks, remember when I mentioned the AWESOME lunch John and I had at O'Brion's pub? Yeah, well, this is where I lost it ;p It wasn't my best moment and I really didn't think I'd get motion/air sick but it happened. Thankfully Jim had showed me where the air sickness bag was before we took off!
Fort Sumter again
Once we left Sullivan's Island I spotted the Mount Pleasant Regional airport, which is next to our neighborhood. Jim asked us if we wanted to fly over our house. We said yes so Jim contacted the airport and requested permission. I handed John the camera because I was a little too queasy to be taking pictures.
Once we got back to the airport we hung out for a few minutes for me to get my bearings. Then we headed back to our house to rest for a little bit (well, for ME to rest). We headed back up to my parent's house at about 4:30 to get the kids and my mom ordered pizza to celebrate John's birthday. They had also made him a chocolate chip cookie cake. Needless to say I DID NOT eat any pizza :) but we had a great day!
From the moment we got off the plane, besides worrying about me, John kept telling me thank you and that he was sorry I got sick and that he felt guilty because he didn't :) I told him that I was sorry I did because that wasn't what I wanted him to remember about the trip. I can't remember how many times he grinned at me and thanked me.
He works so hard to take care of his family and he doesn't have a lot of free time to do things for himself. I am so glad that I was able to do this for him and that I kept the surprise for as long as I did! :) I know he will always remember this birthday and it really made me excited to see that silly grin on his face all day :)
2 comments:
What an awesome present!! I would totally get sick too. If I ever do something like that for my hubby, I'll arrange for him to take someone else. LOL!
that was a great idea!!! I went up in one of those 4 seaters and got air sick too.....sorry it happened
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