Surprise!

This weekend was wonderful. I took the girls home with me to Virginia Beach for my Dad's (SURPRISE) 50th birthday party. The plan was this: We told Dad that we were going to take him out to a new restaurant to celebrate his birthday...Mom and I agonized over how we were going to to lure him over to the park (where the real party would be). I suggested we just drug him, blindfold him and throw him in the car. It would have been less stressful that way. He's very hard to keep secrets from, and none of us are good liars. So, we made him sit all the way in the back of the van(Erin and Matt were meeting us there) so he couldn't hear us snickering(or see us sweating) the whole way. Dad was on to us as soon and I pulled into a local park, claiming I wanted to let the kids play for a bit before dinner. As we approached the shelter with picnic tables, he said "You guys are setting me up, aren't you?" hehe He was surprised to see his brother and sister, who had traveled from out of state to be there. Also, a childhood friend he hadn't seen in a long time...and a bunch of his local running buddies. He was genuinely shocked and had a great time. He usually does not enjoy being in the spotlight...but when you're turning 50..there's a lot to celebrate! Hannah and Sadie did great this trip...Sadie slept pretty well in the bed with me. And of course Hannah made herself right at home. She adores Mom Mom and Grandpa..and Erin and Matt...and was pretty upset with me yesterday when I had to tear her away from them. I think she's still mad.
We got a chance to walk down to the beach from Erin's place on Saturday...they are so lucky to live on the water. This time, Hannah was absolutely fearless about splashing in the water. Last year, she'd scream "NO BIG WA WA!!" But she had a blast.