Kansas

Mom and Dad along with my brother B and his wife and little boy had made plans to visit J out in Kansas.  Some of us thought it might be fun to surprise J and show up so we could do one big fun weekend together.  C, L, E, and I bought tickets and we all ended up being on the same flight with each other.  We all met down here and went out to lunch before we headed to the airport.  We felt bad that Cheb couldn't come with us so, we printed off her face, stuck it on a stick and took her with us.  

Mom and Dad along with B and his family were greeted by J at the airport.  We hung back a little and waited for them to leave.  We got our rental car, ran to the store to get some butterfinger ice cream which is J's favorite, and headed to her house.  We were so excited and wondered how the big surprise could go.  We strategically place the ice cream with Cheb on the sidewalk, rang the doorbell, and raced around the garage to hide.

Next thing we knew, we saw two of her boys come out and they saw us.  We told them to be really quiet, not to tell their mom, but to have her come out.  She came out, saw our little display, asked what was going on and then she saw us.  Then she cried.  And so did we.  It was perfect.

Over the next few days we had so much fall all of us together.  We drove around town.  They had some beautiful architecture and buildings.

We went to a fun nut and candy store.  We fit right in.  

We had fun walking around together and being silly.  We're good at that.

The boys wanted to show us the Keeper of the Plains statue.  It was really neat and a lot bigger than I had expected.

I had a few tricks up my sleeve for the trip.  The twins are turning forty this year so it just seemed so perfectly perfect to have a surprise 40th.  I had made a reservation for a stretched hummer to come pick us up for dinner one night.  But before that, I let E in on a few details. While we were out that day, we ran into a thrift store and stocked up on some fun things to present to birthday kids.  It was so funny when people heard the knock on the door.  No one would answer.  I was like, come on, someone answer the door.  The clock is ticking.  Finally someone answered the door and everyone seemed puzzled.  He said something about picking up the birthday boy and girl.  Everyone looked around stunned and were sure that he was at the wrong house.  I told them to look outside and that it was for them.  C looked at me and was confused as all get out.  I told everyone that he was our ride for the evening.  I asked the driver if he could drive the little boys around the block first.  They piled into the car and it was so cute and I was happy that they were able to do something like that.

While they were riding around the block, E and I broke out our birthday gear and got the twins ready for their big night out on the town.

We headed out to the limo where they had rolled out the red carpet, took turns climbing into the sardine tin, and didn't waste any time busting out the drinks.  Nothing like cheers with champagne glasses with water.

We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, where C ordered a burger, but from the looks of it, I would have thought it was a fried frog with cheese on it.  It was fun seeing them on the saddles while the staff sang to them.  They were good sports.

After dinner as asked the driver if he would take us to the big green thing.

We had such a fun time that night and apparently L and I made the front page of the local newspaper.

We played party games with the boys including pin the tail on the donkey.  We didn't want them to feel excluded from all of the fun.

Birthday boy was worn out that night.  Poor kid.  We wore him out.

It was such a fun trip with all the surprises, time with J, inside jokes, and just being together.  I'm so glad that we were able to do it.  I know it meant a lot to J.  Some other time.