Successful Surprise

I have been SO busy.  Clearly I can't do everyday busy things and also keep up with this blog.  But I was busy with planning a surprise 30th birthday party for my husband, so hopefully that is a good enough excuse. 

It was pretty tough to coordinate all the facets of the party...who to invite, what food to serve, how the surprise would go down.  I was constantly messaging on Facebook and emailing with various people for the past two weeks or so...and trying to keep it all a secret from Michael.  That was the real tough part.  I invited many of his friends from Florida (which only 1 came....thanks, Nate, I know Michael loved seeing you here!) and several from work (most of which came, there were a few who couldn't), plus our usual family friends.  I knew that if I planned it as a pool party at my parents' house, he would probably never suspect that it was for him...and I even ended up not telling him anything at all about people coming over.  The tricky part was getting him out of the house....my Dad and Cooper and Sophia helped with that....Michael and my Dad took the two kids to a movie so the rest of us could set up at the house and the guests could arrive.  Funny thing about that, it was Sophia's very first movie at the theater...and she hated it.  So Michael spent pretty much the whole movie in the theater lobby with her, haha.  He says that he is going to have to write a guest post about that, since I wasn't there to experience Sophia's first movie and it was definitely blog-worthy! 

Anyway, while we set up, I kept in contact with my Dad by text and he alerted me that they were almost home....so everyone headed out to the front porch to surprise Michael....and when he drove in the driveway, he drove right past all of us without even barely looking!!  So we all had to go back in to the garage and wait for him to get out of the car....not quite the surprise that I was thinking, but he was very surprised to see us all there.  Here he is when he finally saw all of us.....

He was super surprised to see his friend Nate, from Florida.  Nate had actually emailed and said he would be up here next weekend....it totally threw Michael off the trail, haha. Then I had one more big surprise for Michael.  We walked into the back so I could show him what I got him for his birthday...a grill!!  Living at the condo, we have never been able to have a grill.  Now that we will be moving into a new house in a few weeks, we have a nice big back porch, with a perfect spot for a grill.  I picked it out myself and it was one that Michael had already researched (and approved, ha) on Consumer Reports.  I know that once we move in and get the grill over there, I will be eating grilled out everything for who knows how long.  Yay. 

I didn't get too many other pictures the whole day.  It was so much fun though and I got to visit with everyone who came and got to enjoy seeing Michael have a good, relaxing time.  I'm glad it was a great party, with a great turnout, and that the surprise didn't get blown before the big day.  I was sure he would figure it out, but he said that I really got him good! 
I was definitely worried that Sophia would blow the secret...she kept randomly naming off some of the party guests and when she came to Party City with me to buy some decorations, she took a great interest in the giant bow I was buying to put on the grill.  She kept saying "big bow, big present" over and over.  She also sang Happy Birthday to Daddy most of the time we were in the store.  And this was like two weeks ago!  Clearly I will not be taking her with me when I shop for his Christmas present!!

I am very happy with the way the day turned out.  Michael actually doesn't turn 30 until the 16th of July.  So we'll probably do a little something on that day to celebrate.  I am so thankful to everyone who came out this weekend to celebrate my husband as he welcomes in a new decade (finally joining the same decade as me, haha).  I think that he is wonderful, a great husband and father and friend, and I am proud that so many others recognize that as well. 

Happy early birthday, Michael!  Sophia and I love you so much and hope you enjoyed your surprise party as much as we (I, haha) enjoyed planning it for you! :-)