The Surprise is 21!

This January marked a big year in our household.  The Surprise turned 21.  My baby is officially legal in every aspect of the word!  At least he is chronologically.  There are parts of me that hope that we all stay childlike in some ways.  But anyway, about a year ago the girls and I decided that we would plan a party for the Surprise.  A surprise party for the Surprise, if you will.

Each of the kids, with the exception of the Surprise got a trip to Chicago and an outing to Medieval Times Restaurant when they finished fifth grade.  Circumstances got in the way of the Surprise's trip.  So....we decided that the perfect party for his 21st Birthday was a trip to Medieval Times.  Now the closest one to us is near Baltimore, so it took a little extra planning to pull this off. 

The weekend after the big day, five of the seven kids, my son in law, P-3, the Ninja and all four grandchildren got together and headed to Baltimore.  It really was a surprise to the Surprise!  As we got closer to Baltimore, he asked more and more questions.  Of course, we lied through our teeth and tormented him as much as possible.  Pook actually convinced him that we had reserved a Loge for the Washington Redskins/Green Bay Packers game and that we had enough time to shop for fan apparel.  He truly did not know what was up until we walked up to the restaurant!

Now, when our family does something like this, we really get into it.  We got the big group photo, we bought banners and of course rocked the house cheering for our Knight.  Pook, Calvin and I also decided that the Surprise should be surprised further by being knighted by the king.  In true spirit of the occasion, the Surprise got into character and played along with the entire event.  He was knighted by the king and received a souvenir photo, and a sword and shield!  Only my crazy bunch would get into the spirit of an event like this and travel four hours one way to do it!

In that sense, I hope my gang never grows up completely.  I hope that we live our entire lives with a little bit of innocence and a whole bunch of fun.  My kids have taught me that you really are only as old as you feel or think.  They have also taught me how important it is to laugh  - at them, at myself, at things that happen in life.  So, Sir Surprise, hope your birthday was happy and that you always keep your sense of humor and some of the little boy in you.  Love you!!!!