dh turning 50!

[Brandi]

My dh is turning 50 in March. Wow I can't beleive it! He was 29 when we met and that seems like yesterday! I am trying to come up with idea's for he's birthday. Oh I should point out he is really young for he's age. Basically no aarp yet. He mountain bike's everyday and kayak fishes. Very very active. Barely any grey hair (grrrr) not like me who is 10 years younger then him and has more grey hair (grrrrr). I would love to buy him the bike of he's dreams which is a new Santa cruz nomad. So pricey though. But he is worth it. Gotta see where we are at $ wise at that time. Right before tax time makes it hard to spend a lot! Any idea's? What have you all done for special big birthdays?

[indigoiis]

Mine is turning 45 on 10/28.
He asked for a quiet day, no plans.
I like that.
I will make him some dinner, and a cake, and I'll maybe get him a book for a present.
I try not to go overboard, because he really doesn't like extravagance.
Sometimes it's the little presents that are the best.
Although a new bike is nice, too.

[mimitabby]

at our house these special big birthdays are just birthdays. But get him a bike!
sounds like a great idea to me.

[Running Mommy]

I sent you a PM... I've got an idea'r (as my mom would say)..

[uk elephant]

In Norway (or maybe just in my part of Norway?) big round birthdays tend to be celebrated with a biiiig party. And presents tend to be gag or personal gifts carefully planned out. For my mom's big day (That would be Duck-on-Wheels), my brother and I wrote her a little book. A collection of all the embarrasing stories about her growing up that we were able to gather, along with some pretty embarrasing photos from the same period. These are stories she used to tell us when we did something stupid/embarrasng so we would feel better. For my dad's recent 60th, my brother and I put together a slide show. Over the years, we have always given him "gift certificates" for random things because what else do you give the man who has everything. So our slide show was a series of gift certificates, illustrated with a fitting picture of one or both of us as kids. Such as a picture of my brother as a 4 year old with a little spade helping to shovel snow in the drive accompanying a gift certificate for one winter of free snow shoveling.

[Grog]

My parents never did much of a fuss around their birthdays. But my in-laws have thrown mighty parties for their big "0" birthdays.

For her 50th my MIL had a surprise party with everyone wearing a "mask" made out a picture of her face as a baby" and lots of silly things, including four friends dancing dressed up in "Full Monty" fashion (probably just a bit more). So yeah, embarrassing but fun stuff. My FIL's 50th was a "cowboy" party (no idea where that came from) with everybody dressed up as cowboys/girls, there were hay bales all over the house, and surprise guests again.

I don't think big gifts were involved though.

It really depends on what your life is like...

[Crankin]

My husband's 50th was last year at this time. I had a catered party at our house. We invited about 20 people, so it wasn't huge. It was so nice not to have to worry about cooking, serving, and cleaning up. People brought nice, but not extravagant gifts. The best thing was that our son was home from the Marines for this.
The party was actually a couple of weeks after his birthday. Two days before his actual birthday, we did a century and (foolishly) went out that night to a very nice restaurant and drank too much champagne.

We usually do bigger things for "0" birthdays.

[emily_in_nc]

My DH requested a special trip for his 50th (Dec. '03). I let him choose where he would like to go, he did some research online, and came up with the BVI (British Virgin Islands). What a wonderful time we had! He got to try sailing a Hobie Cat for the first time and wind surfing, we took a champagne cruise on a large sailboat, ate amazing food, went hiking, drank tropical drinks, and even got to ride cruiser bikes all over the rustic but elegant (and car-free!) resort, Biras Creek. It was a PERFECT week. Pricy, yes, but I didn't regret a penny spent.

I'm already thinking about where I want to go for my 50th (3.5 years away). I'm thinking maybe a Bike Scotland tour.

Emily