Kicking Off The Birthday Weekend

This past Sunday was my 38th birthday and I kicked off the big weekend with a great group of friends at Shakalaka and we partied like a bunch of 12-year-olds. In case you are not familiar with it, Shakalaka is an indoor trampoline arena here in Huntsville. It opened up last year some time and I have wanted to go ever since but never have had an opportunity. So, I decided to gather up some of my favorite people and jump around to celebrate my birthday and I'm so glad I did.

I decided on the 6-7 p.m. time frame on Friday and sent out an email to everyone letting them know the time and also that the web site suggested to buy your tickets in advance. All of us did except for one person, who waited until the night before to go online and purchase her ticket only to find out that our time frame was sold out. So, sadly, she didn't get to join us for trampoline time, but she met up with us for dinner. Another friend wasn't on the email, but I had mentioned it to her at church. Unfortunately, I didn't have her phone number or email and so had no way of getting in touch with her to let her know it was sold out so she came and then couldn't get in. So, she left and went to have dinner with her parents. We did exchange numbers though so as not to have any issue in the future.

The nine  of us who had tickets to jump had a big time. We jumped on the trampolines, we flew off the flying trapeze into a pit of foam, we jumped into a pit of foam, we jumped on trampolines to play basketball, we walked a tightrope above another foam pit, we jumped on more trampolines, and we played dodgeball against innocent children. In fact, we probably got a little too much satisfaction out of hitting children with balls. Our hour went by quickly but we were all beyond tired when it was over with. I got some of the best sleep I've had in a long while that night.

After our time at Shakalaka, we went to Steak 'N Shake for dinner which apparently is one of the most popular places in town because the joint was packed and we had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. Oddly enough, Macaroni Grill which is almost next door was more or less empty which is so bizarre because when I waited tables there 100 years ago the place was packed all the time.

We finally got seated but had to split up because there wasn't a spot big enough for all of us to sit together. We all had a good time and as far as I know everyone enjoyed their food. Some of the girls got milkshakes to take home to their husbands which was really nice of them.

It was such a fun evening and I'm so blessed and thankful to have these great women in my life as my dearest friends. I hope we get to celebrate a lot more birthdays together.