A Wonderful Surprise

I have to say...I love surprises! I'm normally on the surprising end, that is, the secret keeper side. And I'm not complaining because for some reason, I have always delighted in surprising people with birthday parties, baby showers, impromtu visits...you name it. Well, my dad and I cooked up a delicious little surprise and caught my mom quite off guard. I've been holding this secret in since late August, and I've been wanting to divulge it on my blog...but I had to keep it quiet. :-)

Well, the secret's out, so now I can share it! My dad called in August to see if I would consider flying up to PA with the kids provided he paid for the tickets. I took about 2 seconds to decide and said, "Sure!" However, the planning process took much longer than that. Try planning a trip to surprise my mom (and grandparents) around 2 babies due within 2 weeks of each other combined with the fact that my mom was planning a trip to CA to help out my sister who was expecting one of the babies, and you have a complicated process. I won't go into all the details, but there were many deliberations. What if Korben (my soon-to-be-born nephew who is two days late!] is born early? What if Lilly [due 10/30, born 9/29] comes early? (She did and is doing great!) What if Mom waits until Korben is born and then goes to see Lilly? There were many combinations of things that could have happened, but in the end, it has all worked out great.

Josh [begrudgingly, sorrowfully] dropped off his family at the airport on Saturday, and we flew to Baltimore to meet my parents. [Me: May I interject something that will sound a little like bragging? You: Okay, sure. But make it short.] Here goes...I successfully navigated the airport with 3 suitcases (100 pounds total), 1 infant on my back (16.5 pounds), 1 umbrella stroller containing 1 squirmy toddler (37 pounds), 1 carseat for said toddler (2 pounds), 1 bag full of snacks and drinks (10 pounds), and 1 carry-on bag of books, toys, play-doh, laptop, and other air travel distractions for my tiny companions (20 pounds). Phew. I'm tired just looking at that list. Everyone stayed pretty happy, no one next to me seemed overly annoyed, the flight attendants were super helpful (Thanks, Southwest!), and best of all, I did not lose my toddler. :-) Okay, I'm done tooting my own horn.

So how did the surprise take place, you're wondering? Mom and Dad were on their way back from San Diego -- they were visiting Jess, Stefan, and Lilly. Dad worked out the details and got a returning flight that arrived only 1 hour after my flight into Baltimore. Thankfully, Mom agreed and didn't ask any questions about why they HAD to get the 6:30am flight. Dad spotted me sitting in the baggage claim area and kept Mom distracted until they got closer. Then he said, "Hey, look over there. It looks like Jenn!" My mom was SO confused, it was hilarious. She thought it was just a conicidence at first, and then we got to tell her that we were coming home with them! It was great.

So all the secret keeping, small fib telling, luggage carrying, please!-have-another-snack waiting was worth it. Dad and I pulled off a great surprise, and it was fun to bring so much joy to Mom. Aren't surprises grand? :-)