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- It’s my birthday weekend – so it’s the one time a year that I get to be in an Abby’s Saturday photo!
- And speaking of my birthday (it’s tomorrow, by the way) Derrick pulled off the biggest surprise for me last night!!
When I say “biggest” – it wasn’t that it was such a shocking gift or experience, but that he truly shocked the socks off of me. I had absolutely ZERO idea that he was planning anything & so I was literally speechless!
So, the kids & I have been at Deep Creek Lake all week. It was our last time there before my parent’s close up the house for the winter (more on that in a second). We came home last night because Derrick’s parents are traveling thru our area today & stopping to spend a few days with us. So, we came home to clean the house & prep for their visit.
We got home around 3:30pm, unloaded the car, and I sat down on the couch for a few minutes. I asked Derrick what we needed to do to get dinner going & he said: “I’m taking care of it.” It’s my birthday weekend, so I assumed that meant take-out (which sounded fantastic). So, I just sat on the couch, relaxing for a few minutes – this is when a few things happened that I should have noted as “strange” (but I was starting to doze off a bit, so while I noticed these things happening, I didn’t actually register them). Derrick went upstairs & came down in jeans – this is extremely strange because Derrick hates wearing jeans & is almost always seen around our house in shorts. He then went into the kitchen, and I heard him pour pasta into a pot on the stove – again, strange because I thought we were getting takeout. Then he popped his head around the corner & said, “I ordered pizza, is that okay?” and I said, “Sure.” (Why did he “order pizza” if it’s cooking pasta?)
A few moments later, our doorbell rang – (did he order delivery?) and my sister, Emma, walked thru the door.
Now, I’m royally confused. What in the world is happening?
Which is when Derrick turned to me & said: “Surprise! We’re going out to dinner!” (I didn’t even know what to say – I was so caught off guard.)
So, off we went to dinner (with Emma home, hanging out with our kids). We had the most delightful & fun date (we haven’t been on a dinner date in months) & at the end, Derrick said: “We need to run to the store on the way home & get milk, because we don’t have any.”
So, off we went to Giant Eagle & while we were there, Derrick pulled out his phone & I could see that he was texting someone. I asked if he was texting Emma & he said yes, I asked if everything was okay & he said yes, “I’m just letting her know we’ll be home soon.” (Which, in hindsight is something I would do – not Derrick.)
We left the store & came home (thru the backdoor because Emma had “parked in front of our car” out front). The kids met us at the door – super excited – and they said they had a present for me! I wasn’t surprised by this at all – Braelynn makes me presents on a daily basis, so I assumed that’s what they meant. Then they brought me into the living room & said: “The present is in the laundry room!” (What??)
Next thing I know: my niece, Alethea, is popping out of my laundry room! I was so confused: did Ellen drop Alethea off to play while I was at dinner?
And then – a whole slew of people spilled out of my laundry room!! The rest of my siblings (minus Stephen & Ruby who are still at the Lakehouse) and their families were all at my house, waiting to surprise me!!
I was so shocked I didn’t even know what to say.
It was the best.
We had cake & ice cream & stayed up until almost midnight just sitting around & talking. I was literally delirious because I was already tired from packing up at the Lake & driving home, but in the very best kind of way.
I can still hardly believe that Derrick pulled the whole thing off. - Anyways! We spent our last weekend + a few extra days at the Lake this week. I have weddings the next 4 weekends in a row – so that does it for our time at my family’s Lakehouse (they close it up every winter as it isn’t exactly built to retain heat in the cold).
It was the most glorious final week to spend at the Lake. The weather was perfect every single day & we had so much fun relaxing & soaking up every moment.
We visited the Rock Maze (I’ll be making a video about that soon!!), saw a glass blowing demonstration, visited a corn maze, did some shopping, some sight-seeing, took lots of walks, threw a million stones into the lake, played lots of games – and generally had the best time.
It’s always a sad day when we leave the Lake for the “last” time in season – spring can’t come soon enough! - Leander has been quite comical this week –
He climbed out of his pack’n’play one night & waltzed out into the living room saying: “Hey!” and after a pause, holding his hands up, “What happened?!” He’s getting way too big for the pack’n’play, so to be honest, that might have been his last few nights sleeping in it (what?! how?!)
He also told us on several occasions that his name is “Lightning” (as in Lightning McQueen). - So, anyways, my birthday weekend continues! We have some plans (fingers crossed that the rain goes away), Derrick’s parents are coming in to visit, & we’ll see what more fun things we do over the next few days!
yay, glad you were surprised! I knew of the dinner plans, so glad you could all be together
yay, glad you were surprised! I knew of the dinner plans, so glad you could all be together