What did you do for your husband's 40th b-day?

[disney4us2002]

I second the driving experience at Richard Petty when you go in February. I bought it for my dh for Father's Day since we went in June. He kinda thought it would be lame but ended up loving it and wants to do it again!

If you can splurge w/o kids, a nice dinner and overnight stay in a nice hotel, even if in your hometown, would be fun and romantic.

I planned a surprise cruise for my dh's birthday and talked his best friend and wife into coming with us and it was a terrific vacation. My bday is in November and dh planned a surprise xmas trip to Disney for my 40th.

 

[Acklander]

For DH's 40th I made him a video of his life (back when we used video cameras LOL) I had gotten pictures of the house he grew up in, and the house now - His old school and so on. Interviews with people he knew through out his life (many just send me a video from their home town which I was able to add onto mine)where they told their favorite DH stories and memories. Clips from relatives intermingled with photos. There's a local art school where I bartered with one of the students there to cut the video for me and put some of his favorite songs on as background music as well. It ended up being about 45 minutes long. He loved it

 

[seashellmom]

We invited a group of about 20 friends to go out to eat dutch. We paid for the drinks before dinner. The group was a mix of school friends, coworkers and others. It was nice for all of our different groups of friends to finally meet each other! Also, his 40th was 2 weeks after Christmas to get out of town for the night. One friend wrote a poem about his life that was a Huge hit! I also did small goody bags with a few of his favorite things and small travel items for those that chose to spend the night. We had a blast!

 

[sk!mom]

DH and I have birthdays 2 days apart (same birth year) so we celebrated 40 with 10 days in France!

 

[KelsiesMommy]

I threw DH a small urprise party and hen we went on our first cruise ever- Disney Wonder 4 night and he got to go to Universal the day before we left on the cruise

 

[Eeyore1928]

I still have 3 years to plan out...but my DH will be going to California to dive with Great White Sharks...while my DD and I are on the boat watching...then a few days at DL to celebrate

 

[dr&momto2boys]

I surprised my DH with a trip to New York City. Neither of us had been before and he loves to travel and see new places. I got his mother to watch the kids for 2 nights (never done that before either) and we were gone for exactly 47 hours. I set up dinner reservations and a tour to make the most of our trip. It was a nice get-away and a BIG surprise.

 

[cjlvsccm]

Lots of great ideas here already!

I agree that since you already have a WDW trip planned, a special add-on would be terrific. My DH's 40th is next month, and we'll be at WDW in just 30days!!! We have tix to La Nouba and reservation for the Keys to the Kingdom backstage tour.

He doesn't like surprises, and told me a long time ago exactly what he wanted, so I have it easy.

Good luck with your planning!

 

[tinkmom2]

I second the driving experience at Richard Petty when you go in February. I bought it for my dh for Father's Day since we went in June. He kinda thought it would be lame but ended up loving it and wants to do it again!
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I third the Petty Experience. My dh had a blast and they take pics and make a dvd or you can take your own pics of it.

 

[MissBritt]

DH is turning 30 this Sat. He's very low-key, does not like to have a fuss made about him, and all of his friends have moved out of state. I am hosting a surprise dinner at an Italian restaurant Sat night, with just family and 1 friend who may be able to make it in because of the holidays. I have centerpieces made, a soundtrack starting with "my next 30 years", and a dozen framed b&w pics of him from a month old til now to scatter around the room. His new thing is collecting Craftsman tools, so anyone who asked about gifts was given that info. I'm paying $22 per person for a 3 course meal, and the restaurant will have us in a private room, light candles on his cake, and have someone sing "happy birthday" to him Opera-style.

 

[mousebymarriage]

I am really at a loss, his birthday is Jan 23, and I'd love to do something, but have no idea what. He is really not the "throw a party" type. He has a few close friends, but some of them don't know one another, and a few of them don't like one another. We are going to DW in Feb, so a big trip is out. He loves football, and is on a fantasy football leauge. It is getting late to get tickets to a pro game, and tickets for next season don't come out until much later. He likes to golf, but has enough golf stuff. He is a very simple creature, who could'nt even think of anything he wanted for his stocking. See my dilema, anyone have any ideas?

DH turned 40 last Jan.(30th) and we just went out to dinner with some friends and had a fun night. I bought him some NY Yankees stuff and a Jersey. He really wasn't interested in a big party (we did that for his 30th-I threw him a big surprise party). We also had a Disney trip planned for a week later and celebrated there the whole week. He wore his "Happy 40th Birthday" button the entire trip and we had dinner one night at his favorite place (O'Hanas). I also ordered him a special cake for the night we ate at O'Hanas but, they messed it up (it was supposed to be all chocolate and decorated with Mickey etc. instead it was all vanilla and kind of plain looking-just a few Mickey head sprinkles on it). Even though it was a week after his birthday he was happy to celebrate in Disney.

 

[2boysnme]

My DH is not yet 40 but some friends of ours just did a "Halfway to 80's 80's party" for her 40th. I thought it was a neat idea and the 80's outfits were funny.
But if you are not the party type I would probably try to do something extra for DH on our next trip. Mine would also love the boudoir photos someone mentioned earlier, if I had the guts to do them.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

Sounds like your husband is a lot like mine! My husband also turns 40 in January, and he told me a couple of months ago that he does NOT want a party. I asked him recently if I could invite two other couples and their kids over for dinner that night, and he said he'd rather it be just the 4 of us. I haven't decided if I'll cook him a special meal or if we'll go out, but I do have his present. His favorite band of all time is U2, and they are coming to Nashville in July. I was able to snag 2 tickets before it sold out. He'll have to wait a few months for the actual gift to occur, but he'll love the concert and we'll have a weekend just the two of us.

 

[southbarringtonjen]

We got a suite at the Bellagio for his birthday weekend. Lets just say whatever happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas. As this is a family friendly site, lets leave it that a professional of his choosing was involved in helping him "celebrate".

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We ended up doing nothing.

We originally planned a small party with some close friends at a restaurant. Then a friend of my husbands wife decided to do her husbands birthday with mine without asking me and proceeded to invite a ton of people without our approval.

As soon as we found out through a phone call by yet another friend, we cancelled the whole thing. It was turning into a mess and not what my husband wanted.

Also, when we cancelled, the friend who tried to take over cancelled hers because she didn't want to pay for it!

We just ended up treating it as just another birthday. We had cake and ice cream at home.

 

[KKB]

I surprised him w/ a trip to Pebble Beach. I'm really glad I did as prices have gone up ALOT in 8 years.
I had 2 free flights w/ miles & got us a room on the ocean in Monterey for only $100. But then I found the ONLY way I could get him a tee time was to stay at a Pebble Beach resort--at only $350/nt!!!!! (it was a "deal" at their Inn at Spanish Bay). BUT I bucked up for 2 nights (PLUS $350 to golf); even rented a Jaguar for the weekend--WORTH EVERY PENNY! He was blown away. And I had a fantastic time, too. (still have a fab Coach bag from the outlet in Carmel and a pair of mules--use them all the time!)

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

For my husband's 40th., first thing I did was call his boss and get the Friday and Monday after his birthday off. That gave me a 5 day (including the Thursday that he worked to plan).

Just a tiny background, DH hates driving and getting lost. He gets nervous if he doesn't know the area, and didn't even drive a Thruway until we were married.

First thing we did was purchase a GPS for DH. Then (me and the kids) planned a road trip that would include many things DH likes to do.

We programmed the GPS to the places in order of where we were going....

In order we did the following:

1. Left on Thursday, drove to the area of Turning Stone Casino. The kids had pizza in the room and we spent the night at the casino.

2. Next morning, left for Cooperstown, NY to the Baseball Hall of Fame,

3. After the Hall of Fame we went to a BBQ place Rachel Ray reviewed on her show.

4. The following morning we drove to the Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, NY.

5. Left late in the evening and drove to Lewisburg, Pa and stayed at the Country Cupboard Hotel/Restaurant/Store. Very, very, nice.

6. The next day we went to Knoebels Amusement park. We spent the majority of the day, but left a bit early because the kids wanted to get back for a season final soccer game late Sunday evening. We made it just in time... On Monday DH's alarm was shut off, he thought he had to be at work, we let him sleep in and treated him to whatever he wanted that day.

To this day, the GPS has been the best present we ever bought him. The peace of mind while he drives is great, and planning vacations is never upsetting.

Enjoy whatever you do!!

 

[simonsmom]

got him a flight on one of those old planes. the kind where it's just you and a pilot and you wear a helmet. it came with a video and picture and was very awesome. he loved it!!

 

[lattemomof3]

Boudoir pics.

I am just starting to read the responses, but this 1st one gave me a good laugh.