Final Vacation Leg - Surprise Dallas Trip

Friday morning (a week and a half a go), we packed up the car (complete with the kitties), closed up the NH condo and headed back to Boston. We were home only long enough to unpack and repack. Then, we headed to the airport. The last leg of our vacation was to be spent in Dallas at my parents' house. The tricky part is that they didn't know we were coming!

My Mom and Dad have been saying for a long time that they wanted to spend this big anniversary, their 40th, with their kids. Since we're all spread out, that's a lot easier said than done. We (the "kids") had been planning to come for some time but wanted to keep it a surprise.  It didn't work out for us to come the actual weekend of the event, so we made it even more of a surprise by coming a week after the big anniversary.

As usual, my flying arrangements didn't go smoothly.  We had a connection through D.C.  There was weather in the nation's capital and our plane coming from there to "pick us up" in Boston was late and we were going to miss our connection from D.C. to Dallas.  They announced that we should go back out of security and go back to the ticket counter for re booking.  After standing in line for about half an hour, we finally got to work with someone to figure out a new plan.  She searched around for a bit and was able to book us on a direct flight leaving at 9pm on a different airline.  Thank goodness!  Only problem?  It was 5:30 in Boston and my brother was to be picking us up in Dallas at 9pm central time with all of his family in the car (they were driving down from OK and picking us up at the airport to then surprise my parents at their house).  So, we booked it over to the other airline, went through security (again) and went to the gate of the flight that was supposed to have left at 5:30 but was also experiencing a delay.  Lo and behold they were boarding when we got there and there was room on the plane!  So, after all that, we ended up getting to Dallas earlier than our original flight and we had to kill some time at the Dallas airport awaiting our ride.  If any of you know my luck with the airlines, it NEVER works out for the better so this was a rare treat!

(Almost) The whole family (minus Jamie and Sarah who unfortunately couldn't make it) showed up at the 'rents house and they were definitely surprised!  Yay, we pulled it off!  We had a whole weekend of treats planned for them.  

Since we showed up unannounced, we wanted to be sure to plan all the meals and pick up all the ingredients so Mom and Dad wouldn't have to worry about that.  So, first meal Saturday morning, master breakfast chef Mike took charge and made eggs and pancakes....even matching big and little Mickey Mouse pancakes for me and mini-me (aka Presley).

Master Chef and Cute Helper

Ryker's getting so big AND so much cuter!

After a day of hanging out, chatting and playing with all the kids, we got spiffied up and took Mom and Dad out to one of their great local Mexican restaurants.

The whole gang at dinner

There, we presented them with their gifts, including a group effort crafted plaque which was inspired by a wood crafted plaque my brothers and I made for them on their 15th anniversary.

Since my parents' church family is very much their extended family, we also presented them with a "real" plaque to them there.  Here's all of us with the fancy plaque.
Sunday afternoon, we were joined by my Aunt Pam and Uncle Kerryn for lunch.  Jody and Mike grilled us up some burgers and "the gals" worked on side dishes and all the fixin's.  The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with the kids as much as possible before they headed back home.

Two Cuties - Little Smooch and Awesome Big Sis 

Mike and Flying Ryker

Reece, Me, Ryker and Presley

After Jody and his gang headed home, Mike and I had a relaxing evening with the parents.  Monday, we packed up, had a quick visit to the Dallas Farmer's Market and headed to the airport.  The trip back to Boston was blissfully uneventful.  

The end of our vacation was a little rushed and hectic, much unlike the beginning of the vacation, but it was just really fantastic to get to spend such an important celebration with the family and we loved every minute of it!