~Friday's Surprise~

Nick asked me if we had any plans for Friday. I said no and he told me to keep it open. I tried not to think too much about it, but all week I knew something must be up. Friday morning rolled around and I got a call from Nick to pack separate over night bags for myself and the kiddos and make sure to include swimming suits for everyone. I was intrigued! He said I would receive further instruction that afternoon. Around 2pm I got a text to check my e-mail, where I got directions to a newly opened Ramada Tropics Inn.

As soon as we arrived Nick came out and helped us inside to see the Indoor water park and take us to our room! The kids were ecstatic! Seriously, they were walking through the halls like they owned the place, and thought the room was awesome. We jumped on the massive king sized bed for a few minutes, ooooed and ahhed over the pretty roses Nick brought me, and the glass walk in shower and big screen tv. Then we quickly changed into our swimming suits and were off to the waterpark! (Notice the new hair... it was a day old, but still salon styled and I wanted to get a picture of it so I could remember what it was supposed to look like if I found myself the lucky owner of a chi flat iron...)

Hardly a soul was e at the pool at 3:30 in the afternoon so we had the place to ourselves! We climbed all over the waterslides, the pirate ship, the fountains, and even took a dip in the hot tub. Lyssa and Alec were a little hesitant to go down the big water slides, but ended up loving it! Lyssa would giggle the entire way down and as soon as we hit the water she would say "gaain! gaain!" (Lyssa talk for "again").

After two hours of water lovin' fun, we headed back to our rooms to shower and get food for the babies. They were such a hoot to watch just lounging on the bed, watching a cartoon movie, eating their "picnic dinner". Once I was finished attempting to tame the new hair, we headed out for dinner, dropping the kids off with Auntie Tiffany and Uncle Greg, who loved them to pieces until lunch time the next day. We went to Macaroni Grill, and headed out to a few stores without having to worry about being home by 8pm... so fun! The next morning we were able to sleep in, go swimming a little bit (Nick went down the waterslides head first at least 10 times) and went out for a yummy breakfast before picking up our happy babies. (Thanks Greg and Tiffany for loving our kiddos!) We all had so much fun I think we'll go back again for another weekend in January or February... you know, when the weather gets frigid and gross and all we want to do is hop on the first plane to Florida. :-)

Like I told Nick while dining on delightful lemony chicken, this surprise meant a lot to me. I've always been a lover of surprises so the timing couldn't be better. I much rather have a smaller anniversary celebration next month (where celebration is anticipated) and have a surprise celebration now (when I would least expect it). Though most people would never guess, this last month has been a really hard one for me in many ways. I'm on the other side of that valley cruising upward, but this certainly helps me keep my momentum to climb back up to where I want to be. Thank you so much, Nick, for planning a wonderful weekend for the entire family.

But most of all, thanks for always loving

me.

I love you more than all the Granite City Chocolate Cake we could ever eat... and you know how I feel about their chocolate cake!!!