California Surprise!

My sister, Katie, got married October 3rd and my parents were trying really hard to get me from Idaho to California for her wedding. Unfortunately, with school, work, and plane tickets being close to $500 for a weekend trip, it seemed like getting there wouldn't be possible. So we concluded that we just wouldn't be able to make it home this trip.





About a week before the wedding, Ethan and I decided to be spontaneous and road trip down to California for the event because we had a handful of classes cancelled at the last minute. We left Thursday morning at 4am. Ethan was such a trooper because he drove almost the whole way so I could sleep.

We got to my house almost 13 hours later around 5pm and could hardly contain our excitement! At first we thought no one was home, but we heard the bathroom doorknob jiggling and knew it must have been my step-dad, Mark, home from work early. He walked out of the bathroom and, with the biggest grin on his face, exclaimed "What the heck are you guys doing here!?" That alone would have been worth it, but we still had my brother and mom to surprise.

Quickly, we explained how we secretly planned to come down and Mark was ecstatic to help us plan how to surprise my little brother, Alec, who was almost done with baseball practice. Mark had the idea that Ethan and I should pick Alec up in his car so Alec would think it was Mark. We did.

We parked about 50 feet away from the baseball field, close enough for Alec to see the car, but far enough away for him not to see the people in the car. When Alec got about 10-15 feet away from the car, Ethan and I both got out and started walking towards him. Alec's face lit up and he started running towards us, telling us how this had been the worst practice, but it was all worth it now. He was chattering like a kid on Christmas the whole ride home. That, too, would have been worth it, but we still had to surprise my mom.

Mark called my mom and asked if she wanted us to meet her for dinner out by where she works. She agreed, but said she had to go return something at Macy's first, so it would be about an hour. Originally, Ethan and I planned to surprise my mom by being seated at the table when she got to dinner with Alec and Mark. Luckily, Mark had a better idea. He suggested that we meet her at Macy's, she would never expect to see us, especially there.

Ethan and I drove to Macy's and sat in the full parking lot until we saw her car pull in to a nearby space. I kept getting nervous that she would see us, so I made Ethan hide behind cars as we watched her walk into the store.

Side Note: It's lucky they all love us, because all of this sounds creepy... breaking into a house to surprise Mark, taking a car that isn't ours to pick up and surprise Alec, stalking my mom to surprise her at Macy's...

Anyway, we waited a couple minutes for my mom to get cozy inside the store before going in ourselves. Ethan spotted her near the far right side, so I had him wait there while I started sneaking around. After a few minutes of hiding behind clothing racks and fear of getting caught, I finally walked towards her and said "Excuse me, Ma'am..."

The look on her face was absolutely priceless. She honestly looked like she had seen a ghost. She froze with her mouth and eyes wide open in shock for a good 30 seconds before walking towards me and hugging me. Just like the two before, her smile quickly took over her face and the lengthy drive was well worth it.

Alec and Mark met us for dinner a couple blocks away and everyone was in such a good mood all weekend. I am so glad I have a husband who is kind enough to go along with all of my crazy, spontaneous ideas and a family who will always be excited to see us. We love each other :)