Doug had a great 56th birthday celebration. Phil and Meg were able to join us for dinner which, of course, included brats a Heinisch family staple. Doug also made a carrot cake which was a big hit for dessert. The fireworks in our neighborhood this year were a nice addition to our party, but maybe just a little bit too close as someone was shooting them off in the retention pond right across the street.
I had a really had time picking out a gift for Doug's birthday this year. He didn't really have any ideas for me and told me that he liked what I gave him for Father’s Day if I wanted to do something like that again. I didn’t want to just give him the same gifts that I had a month ago and hoped to come up with something a little bit more original. I knew that the gifts from my children were fantastic and I didn’t want to upstage them but still wanted to find something that I thought Doug would like. I spent a lot of time looking at different ideas online and then it finally dawned on me. Doug really needed a duffel bag. He traveled a lot and always had to take a carry-on suitcase even for an overnight stay. I found one that I liked online and then went to Publix to pick up the perfect bottle of alcohol to go with it. After looking through everything and even talking to their friendly store clerk, we both agreed that I couldn’t go wrong with a bottle of Jack Daniels.
I am very happy to say that Doug did like the duffel bag filled with Jack Daniels and candy. It didn’t quite top Vitalogy on vinyl from Pearl Jam, but that was OK because no one was going to top Meg's gift this year. She easily took that honor with what I believe to be the best gift Doug has ever gotten when she found the exact same Six-Million-Man lunchbox that Doug had in first grade that he talked so fondly about over the years. He was absolutely speechless when he pulled it out of the bag and it now holds a special spot in our living room instead of in his memory.
The best part for Doug was that he still had two more gifts to open. Brett had sent him an Edi Amin book which I know he will absolutely love reading, especially from all of his years of saying, "I'm Edi Amin" when knocking on a door. Cameron had also picked up some great sauces for him to try and even a Mudhens souvenir. Meg definitely trumped us all this year with her gift, but the boys and I still came through with some really nice ones as well.
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