Surprise! Happy Retirement

What a week!  So we have been planning a surprise retirement party for Grantudy for months, and this was the week!  Only one problem.  I wasn't paying attention and planned to hang out with mom during my last week of maternity leave... leading up to the party.  So I spent a lot of the week taking Roxie for longs walks while I made last minute phone calls for the party!

We had a lot of fun this week.  I wanted to soak up all the hours, minutes, seconds of the last weeks of my maternity leave.  So we did a lot of playing and even got down to the beach for a few days.  It was a lot of work without Daddy by our sides, but worth so worth the memories.

I got to spend some one-on-one time with my best boy, little man, and all around good buddy.  We made a point to get in lots of golf cart rides and watch all the sunsets.  A tradition at Kentmore Park is sunsets in jammies.

Back home, we sent Grantudy packing while I rushed to empty beach clothes, run the wash, and re-pack for the surprise party, all in about 12 hours!

Chase has been going through a "Jake and the neverland pirates" phase and on a whim a tied a scrap piece of red fabric on his head jsut like Jake.  We are 4 days and counting and he has yet to take it off.  The picture below is first thing in the morning.  Still on.  He wore it to bed. (also, note the iconic thumb sucking and ear tugging-- this is his happy place). 

Just to add a bit more fun to our whilwind trip from VA to MD to VA to PA, we fit in a trip to see Katy's newest little guy, John.  I have wanted to see her parents farm for years now and it was the perfect timing to meet her there and play for a few hours before the party.  As usual, her parents put on a huge spread of food and kept all the kids and babies entertained so Katy and I could catch up.  The visit was so much fun and NOT long enough!

We jumped back in the car about 2 hours before the party and grabbed naps on the go while we run some errands and set up for the surprise!

We met up with Aaron, Anna, and Lucy and got the place set up.  Man, I was so anxious that we were going to pull this off.  Dad assured us that mom still had no clue, but no one was 100% sure.  Friends and family started to arrive and we peered out the window waiting for the big moment!

Surprise!  ok, she definitely had NO idea and it was funny to watch her brain "get" what was going on.  She even backed away from the group saying, "what are you doing here?  What are you doing here?" HAHAHA  GOT HER!  So wonderful!

The party of awesome and everyone had a great time.  Sunday we all spent some quality time together before having to head back home. 

 What a week of crazy travel and CRAZY FUN!