Here’s to 50 and New Adventures: A National Park Themed Party

We’ve been known to take a road trip, or 20, to a national park. Just check our van’s odometer or our back windows for all the national park stickers.

What you may not know, though, is that my husband (aka Mr. Whitaker) received his B.S. in Wildlife and Fishery Science from Texas A&M. The year he planned to apply as a park ranger, they had a hiring freeze so we decided to get married and both pursue our master’s degrees instead. Ha! During his time in grad school, he began interning with the university foundation and fell in love with fundraising. But, he never lost his sense of wonder with national parks. To date, we’ve visited about a third of them with all six kids, 23. This man loves to hike and plan the most epic national park trips. He’s so good at it!

We’ve made so many great memories traveling to national parks (2020 was a highlight, for sure) that it seemed more than appropriate to make his 50th birthday celebration all about adventure and those beloved parks.

When I plan the kids’ parties I always create a themed table (it’s my love language) as well as activities for the birthday kid. For Mr. Whitaker, he got the table and a ton of our friends who stopped by to wish him well. I kept the guest list a secret so it was a surprise every time he opened the door. It was so fun! I’ll stop chatting and just get to the photos. I absolutely loved making this one come together. Oh, and if you’re wondering about that “BIBE” cookie, it’s a nod to his favorite park, Big Bend in the great state of Texas.