Adam's Adrenaline Adventure

Father Christmas arrived a day early, as he usually does in our house, and brought sun, heat and Adam's birthday! While anyone else would mope about having their very special day coincide with the silly season, my amazing husband generously smiles at sympathetic well-wishers and reminds them that December 24th is the best birthday he's ever had! We also figure he happens to be in pretty good birthday company.

We started his special day of celebrations with a birthday breakfast of Papa Kay cakes and fresh fruit. One of the greatest advantages to having a southern hemisphere holiday is the prevalence of summer fruits - and boy have we been capitalizing on the advantage.



Having enjoyed our breakfast, it was important to work off some of the whipped cream with some quick running of errands around town (we hadn't anticipated how handy Adam's birthday would become in securing a variety of bargains) followed by an adventure out to Adrenaline Forest, a great high ropes course located just outside of Wellington in Porirua. Adam looks great in a security harness.

Before we started climbing up into the canopy, this little hedgehog wandered out to enjoy a bit of sunshine before returning to her burrow for naptime. I'll never get used to seeing hedgehogs as wild animals as opposed to adorable household pets.

Adam enjoyed a barrel of fun on one of the first courses while I simply had a barrel of laughs watching him wriggle mid-air.

Every boy wants to be Spider-man.  Adam got to indulge his inner child by riding the Tarzan swing into this net.  Hang on birthday boy!

There are seven courses that you can work through at Adrenaline Forest.  Adam and I conquered numbers 1, 2, 3, and 5 before our arms begged for relief.  Every course gets a little tougher and quite a bit higher in the treetops.  As you can see Adam expertly walked himself across a monkey bridge - clearly ignoring the beautiful view of the bay behind him.

All of our play in the jungle left us with ape-sized appetites.  Where better to satisfy some cravings for good old fashioned American food than a good old-fashioned American diner...Denny's!  Before you judge Adam's choice you should remember that a) it's tough to get a burger around here without beetroot and egg b) they actually serve French Fries with Heinz ketchup and Ranch and c) they even gave Adam a free birthday lunch! 

Apparently some of New Zealand's computer networks didn't remember that it's polite to remain working when the birthday boy is on-call.  Poor Adam spent more than his fair share of his special day in this favored position.

Adam's i-phone mercifully stopped ringing long enough for us to enjoy a special birthday won-ton soup for supper.  Living abroad has certainly expanded our culinary skills.

 Discovered as a birthday favorite last year, Adam's request for a birthday cake has evolved from the traditional cheesecake to a more seasonally appropriate strawberry rhubarb pie.  Not quite as perfect as last year's attempt, it's the thought that counts and Adam didn't look like he minded the mushy pie crust too, too badly.

Ripping and tearing; a birthday must-do.

To the sweetest, most supportive, and handsome husband in any hemisphere...happy birthday Adam!