I don’t know who was more excited about Ray’s birthday.

Caleb was jumping out of his skin with excitement, whispering reminders about breakfast in bed, presents and assembling the birthday cake even before I had opened my eyes. His excitement was catchy and we made sure Ray’s morning was special for him. 

Ray had organised to meet a friend for coffee just down the road. Mark is someone who we met when we owned the store in Tarwin Lower, South Gippsland, Victoria, and through the magic of “Linked In” they had been able to reconnect and make plans to meet up. Even though we are loving spending every minute of every day together I know how much I am missing my time “with the girls” so I knew that to give Ray a couple of hours alone with Mark would be a great birthday gift. 

Caleb and I stayed at the van while Ray went to meet him. 
While he was gone we blew up balloons, stuck up the birthday banners and made his cake. Caleb was intent on assembling a 6 pack of pink donuts into a pyramid. On top of the pyramid we placed a singing candle and around the base of the “cake” we placed some chocolate wrapped love hearts. Caleb had been insistent about buying a bag of party poppers also. We set up the cake on the table, covered it with a netting dome to keep the flies out and Caleb sat down party popper at the ready for when Ray came back.

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Unfortunately for Caleb that was two and a half hours later. Caleb’s excitement didn’t wane the whole time he was waiting but I think even he got sick of jumping up to look every time a car drove in or past our van. 
Ray was adequately surprised when he eventually got back and we ate a feast of Ray’s favourite pink donuts. While we were eating, we scored an invitation via text to Mark (and partner Sue’s) house for drinks and dinner. We were excited!

Most of the day was taken up with Ray receiving phone calls from all over the world, wishing him a wonderful birthday. If anyone knows Ray, they know that Ray talks a lot so returning all the calls took quite a while. 
We had just enough time to have a birthday challenge at Putt Putt in Mermaid Beach. Of course Caleb and I couldn’t bear to see the birthday boy upset on his big day so we took it very easy on him. Ray played exceptionally well, winning the game with 3 holes in one on a very tricky course. (Caleb is still convinced that he won because his score was the highest).

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We looked forward to dinner and after hitting some heavy traffic through Surfers Paradise, we eventually made it. We spent a very enjoyable evening with Sue and Mark, sitting outside overlooking the canal. Caleb was in his element with a swim in their pool and Foxtel on their huge TV. He was even allowed to eat his dinner on the white leather sofa which impressed him no end!

Sue had prepared a feast for us and as she was almost vegetarian, everything on offer was right up my alley. Her homemade falafel and tzatziki dip were scrumptious. Mark and Ray enjoyed lamb cooked in the BBQ and we were joined by Sue’s daughter and her partner, Caitlin and Emmett. A family friend, Mark also arrived. We spent a special evening sharing details of our trip and getting to know new people. We hope to see them again on our return trip back to Melbourne. It is amazing that a friendship made when we were on a different adventure in our lives (“Siggys” Store Tarwin Lower) has co-incided with this adventure. The juxtaposition is mind boggling.