Surprise! (Or....I am Way Too Old for This)

Oh Sheri and Kathleen, you sneaky sneaky gals!

Here's what happened. This year is the year that I turn 50 years old. Sheri said something a time or two about us needing to celebrate. I figured we would do something, but I didn't really have any great ideas or exciting things I wanted to do. And she didn't really mention it again - which I actually was a little surprised about.

What did get mentioned was a trip to Las Vegas, by my other-side-of-the-family sister-in-law, Kathleen. She works for Jet Blue and had suggested before that at some point we should go on a trip. Sometime during the winter Kathleen told me she and her sister were going to visit her other sister in Las Vegas and that I should come. Maybe I should have suspected something but I really didn't. I thought that going to Vegas sounded fun. I love Kathleen and felt tickled to be invited to be a part of sisters trip. The trip was going to happen at the end of April, and it was something on the calendar that was exciting to anticipate. A little plane ride, sitting by the pool, eating at fun restaurants - it was going to be a wonderful getaway!

A little while before the trip, Kathleen's dad became ill. He had been diagnosed with cancer some time ago, and it's been quietly progressing. But he had a fall and a bad illness and it led to dear Stan being admitted in the ICU. It was sad and really tough on Kathleen and her family. As the time drew nearer for the Vegas trip, I just figured we would have to postpone - her dad was just getting worse.

We were supposed to leave on a Sunday afternoon. The day before, Saturday, Peter and Sheri and the kids were in town for a gymnastics meet for Iva. They were spending Saturday with us, and I was telling Sheri how sad I was that Stan was so sick and we were all worried for him, and that the Vegas trip was certainly being delayed if not just cancelled. Just then, there was a knock on the door. It was Kathleen!

I actually wasn't that surprised - her dad was in the Huntsman Cancer Institute's ICU, just up the hill from us. I thought she was dropping by to get a break from the hospital, give us an update, and also break the news that the trip was off. She walked in, and I jumped up to give her a big hug and cry with her for a minute. Then she came into the kitchen to sit down and chat with Sheri and me. That's when they told me - there wasn't going to be a Vegas trip. In fact, there never had been a Vegas trip. It was a big fat trick! The two of them had been planning to take me to Disneyland together - planning since last September!

Well - I just about died. First of all, I was so shocked that they had been planning this. (In fact, later, Sheri let me read the text thread between the two of them that had been going on for months and it was so sweet.) I was absolutely surprised and I believe I couldn't close my mouth or wipe the shock off of my face for quite some time. Also...Kathleen wasn't going to join us after all because of her dad. So there was this incredibly emotional conversation where I was crying with love and happiness because these two dear sisters love me and wanted to make a big deal out of my birthday and treat me and spend time with me. Also Disneyland. And also, heartbreak and guilt and sadness that Kathleen wouldn't be joining us. I felt so bad, and she did too, but she insisted that we go anyway, and that she would be miserable leaving her dad at that time, and wouldn't have a good time.

You know who else was surprised? My husband. Yeah, the girls didn't tell Troy. I know he would have kept the secret - not sure why they didn't tell him! But he was planning on me going to Vegas, and I guess me gone in Nevada and me gone in California is still just me gone, so they didn't tell him. I felt a little bad - I always need major verbal affirmation to not feel bad about going away. But Troy was happy and supportive and sweet. 

The original plan had been for Kathleen and me to leave on our trip on Sunday, me still thinking we were going to Vegas, but I would be told that we had to have a layover in LA. Kathleen was going to tell me that we had enough time to go get some good food or something. (Apparently I can always be convinced by food.) We would leave the airport, call an Uber, and the plan was that Sheri would pull up and that's how they were going to surprise me. Can you imagine? I would have died. DIED. It was a great idea and I'm very sorry that it wasn't able to happen. Those cute sisters of mine - they worked so hard to put this together and it was really so sad that things had to be rearranged. Not just because of the trip, obviously, but because of Kathleen's dad. 

So...change of plans. Instead of flying to LA, the new arrangement was for me to drive back that night to St. George with Peter and family, and Sheri and I would drive to California together on Sunday. I will spare the details of getting to CA - it was kind of long, due to a late-night end to Iva's gymnastics meet. It was a little rough. But the drive on Sunday was delightful - we enjoyed chatting and singing and just being together the whole way. 

We spent the afternoon visiting her grandpa in Long Beach, who is a delightful man. I especially enjoyed getting to know him better while we went out to dinner and I got to ask him all sorts of questions. What a sweet and interesting man. Then it was a walk on the beach.

Then it was off to the hotel - a pretty nice spot about a one-mile walk from Disneyland Park, with a very nice, big, clean convenience store just along the way. Perfect for stocking up on monster drinks, Pringles, and other necessities. 

And here's where I just load you with photos - I mean, who wants to hear the play-by-play of two days at Disney? No one. But it was so fun. I think Sheri has wanted to get me alone at Disney for about 15 years now. And we did it! We walked like 20 miles a day. We did all the things. Rode the rides. Ate the treats. I just followed Sheri around wherever she said to go. So here are one million photos. I'm not even dividing them up into the separate days. And also, there are so many more photos than these. You're welcome for not putting them ALL in here.

Ok I'll mention a couple of specifics. 

This year at Disneyland, all of the employees wore name tags with their favorite character listed on them. It was so fun to interact with cast members (the correct name for Disney employees) and find out who their favorite is and chat a little. That was fun. We also talked much about which character we ourselves would pick. I finally pared my list down to Merryweather or Lady Cluck. Probably Lady Cluck. The best was meeting a cast member named Chase with the favorite character Kronk. Hello! That is my boy!!!

Another delightful moment was taking a break to eat dinner over at California Adventure. Sheri and I were calmly eating our salads and pasta, and at the table next to us, absolute mayhem was unfolding. There was a family there - the dad was juggling baby and a few kids and getting dinner on the table and was either ignoring or unaware of the fact that his son was steadily opening packets of sugar and pouring them into his mouth, one after another after another. Once the kid got pizza, he even put sugar on his pizza. The mom returned with a sullen and red-eyed pre-teenager, and also ignored her son's intake of about a cup of sugar. Sheri and I were laughing so hard. 

Another delightful dinner memory was making an actual reservation at an actual restaurant - the one overlooking the lake at Disneyland. We got Monte Cristo sandwiches and creme brulee and it was just heavenly. 

One of the best moments on the trip was trying to leave Disneyland in the evening to spend the nighttime hours at California Adventure. Somehow we timed our exit at the exact right moment and landed on the sidelines of the most delightful parade I have ever seen. (I'm shocked I just typed that. Parades are in general miserable experiences. But not at Disneyland.) There were all of these floats with classic characters on them, and Sheri and I found ourselves cheering for them - Sleeping Beauty and the three fairies, Merlin and The Wart, Anna and Elsa, Moana and Maui, and the best was Peter Pan and Wendy. Tinkerbelle was walking around, and right in front of us was a tiny kid dressed as Peter Pan. Tinkerbelle came up to him and had the cutest little interaction with him and basically Sheri and I both broke down weeping. We are so silly.

Sheri did go full-boar for two solid days. Check out the blister on my foot. I feel like I almost died from it. I felt so old! My poor sister was trying to drag this old lady around at top speed. It was all I could do to not slow her down too much. 

It really was a great trip, and I was so grateful to be showered with love. I'm so sad Kathleen couldn't be there too - although in all honesty, I'm not sure that Sheri-style and Kathleen-style would have meshed super well. Maybe it would have been great, I don't know. But I do hope that Kathleen and I get a chance to go another time. 

Thank you, sisters, for celebrating my 50th in such style. Love you both so much.