St. Louis!
May 1st was my brother's 50th birthday. My sister-in-law planned on throwing him a surprise birthday party on Saturday, so my whole family got in on the secret. My parents flew up from Florida, my aunt and uncle drove in from Michigan, and I came in from Minnesota. It was a short trip (arrived Friday at 4:30, left Sunday at 2), but it was so worth it!
We all had to pretend that we weren't in town until the party on Sat evening, so luckily my other brother put us up for a few days. It was really hard to make phone calls and text the birthday boy without alluding to our plans!
Saturday morning, we helped decorate for the party. My sister-in-law told my brother that the party was for her boss who also happens to have a birthday around the same time. She even went as far as mailing herself a fake invitation to hang on their fridge, and they brought a present to the party!
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| Some of the decorations and the cake table. |
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| The cake! |
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| My SIL made this! Turned out great! |
He was so surprised. Not only for the party, but when he saw my parents, aunt & uncle, and myself - his jaw nearly hit the floor!
I hope that works! At first he walked away! My mom and I were trying to stand back a little so he didn't see us until he got inside, so that's why I'm yelling at my Dad who ran right up to the door.
It was so great to see everyone and spend some time together, even if it was a short trip. After the party was over, we hung out a bit at Scott's house. Then Sunday morning we all met up for breakfast in downtown St. Charles. Of course, there was a little shopping afterward, too. St. Charles is a historic downtown area right on the Missouri river full of quaint shops & restaurants. It is definitely one of our favorite places to go when we visit!
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| Some of the crew at breakfast. From the left there's my Mom, Aunt Candy, SIL Karen, birthday boy brother Scott, nephew Jared, and my other brother Keith. Not pictured: Dad, niece Anna, cousin Jake, and SIL Chris. We're a big group! |
The weather was gorgeous the whole time we were in town, so we tried to be outside whenever possible. There are so many places with patios there; we never had any problems finding somewhere to sit outside!
Funny side story: we had wine bottles at the party, but no wine opener. Since I always carry my trusty traveling wine opener in my purse, we thought it wouldn't be a problem. Well, the corkscrew broke off in the cork, so Keith had to run off to buy a new one. They got back just in time, except that we then proceeded to break the new wine opener in the same bottle! Eventually we were able to get two bottles open, but it was an ordeal!
When I came home, this huge contraption was sitting on my buffet. It's a giant, antique wine bottle opener. Sure would have come in handy at the party!
I'm not sure where it came from, still haven't gotten the full story from Travis yet. My plane was a few minutes late getting in last night, so by the time I got home and said hello, I was just ready for bed. Great weekend, but exhausting!
How was your weekend? Have you ever been in on a surprise party?
This sounds like SO much fun!! Love it!! We surprised my dad for his 60th a few years ago. He was shocked beyond belief! It was really fun!! Glad you had a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteIt was so fun! My brother was so so so surprised. It was great! I'm really glad I was able to get down there, even if it was just a short trip.
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