SURPRISE!

Grab yourself a cup of coffee.  Pull up a seat and get comfortable.  I have a story to share.

About a month ago I got a hair brained idea.  I was in need of a visit to my parents... Just some time away.  Jason was in need of us visiting my parents (wink)... Just some time alone.  So I told Jason I wanted to go.  Scratch that, I told Jason I was going to go.  Buuuuuttttt, Jason would NEVER let me drive 10 hours by myself with four kiddies.  Have no idea why.  So the only logical choice was flying.  Sure, I could fly with four kids (two of which are babies, practically)!  I wrestle them every day... How's an airplane gonna make a difference?  Jason still wasn't going for it.

That's when Grandmama stepped in.

"Hey Grandmama, I have an idea I want to run past you..." And that's how it all started.  Together the two of us concocted a marvelous plan to surprise my parents.  She would fly up to Florence on Thursday, then we'd all fly back to Ft. Myers (where she and my parents live) the next day and just SHOW UP on their doorstep.  Great idea?  Wonderful idea, if I do say so myself.

So we planned, and we talked, and we planned some more.  Groceries, meals, time frames, rental cars, plane tickets... We worked out all the details.  Grandmama spent a week running around Ft. Myers and cooking up a storm, and I spent a week trying to not slip up every time I talked to Mom or Dad.  It. Was. So. Much. Fun!

Fast forward to the plane ride to Ft. Myers.  The kids could not have been more perfect.  I mean they were aaaaaannnnngggggeeeeelllllsssss.  Even Gracyn ;) (hey, it's not a put-down... she's just two).  The big girls were mesmerized.  At one point Hannah looked at Grandmama with big eyes and said, "I'm not scared!"  I think saying it out loud was her way of convincing herself.  Funny enough, Gracyn didn't mind the flight, but she made me close the window while we were up in the air.  She did NOT like the clouds.  Somehow that two year old little mind knew something about this wasn't normal :).

And then we got there.  Happy to be on the ground, excited to shock the daylights out of my parents.  I told my mom (who works at an elementary school) that she needed to be home at 4:30 to sign for a package.  Guess what time we arrived at their home.  Yep.  4:30 on the dot.

The kids, Grandmama and I snuck up to the door, giggling every step of the way and rang the door bell.  We could see mom through her glass doors, but she had her back to us.  When she got up she didn't recognize us at first.  Then we saw "the look".   She opened the door, dropped to her knees, and smiled the biggest smile I have ever seen.  "What! Is! This!?!"  And a huge rush of hellos, kisses, shock, and how-we-did-its poured off our lips.  "Can you believe your mother was gone overnight without you knowing??? Yea, she's been in Florence... We flew here, we didn't drive... No, Dad doesn't know yet, we want to surprise him, too...."

Next was Dad.  He was at work, but we couldn't be too suspicious about getting him home.  Mom called, "Hi hon.  When will you be coming home tonight?"  He said he was leaving in 10 minutes.  The girls BEGGED to get in the pool.  Perfect.  They could be swimming when he got home and he would wonder who the heck was in his pool!

Mom kept a lookout... When he drove up she shouted, "Here he is!"  So we hid and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Why wasn't he coming in?  Mom peeked, "He's sitting in his car listening to the radio." Geese!  You can only keep four kids quiet for so long.  FINALLY, Dad came in.  Later he told me he thought, "Who's out there in our pool?"  It took him opening the door and a second glance to realize it was his GRANDKIDS all the way from South Carolina swimming in his pool!  The look on his face?  Priceless!

It didn't take long for the business suit to go off and the swimming suit to go on.  Dad's a sucker for the pool and his grandbabies. :)

The surprise planning was a lot of fun.  But let me say that just being there... With two incredible parents, one amazing grandmother, and my kids was just what I needed.  They say you can never go home again.  Well, I can.  And I do.  And I love it.