Surprise!!

For our 40th anniversary dinner, the kids were in charge.  Needing an outing, they announced they were taking us out to eat.  Fine with us.  They were paying.

We needed a kid friendly venue, and the majority voted for Chuy’s at the Summit.  Mistake.  Big mistake.  The Summit was a zoo on the Monday after Christmas, and it was a two-hour wait at Chuy’s.  No can do with three children age three and under.

Regrouping we headed back east on 280, aiming for Pablo’s at Lee Branch.  Fortunately, since everyone in the entire Birmingham metro area was at the Summit, navigating 280 at 6 p.m. was a breeze.  Pablo’s had our table ready in less than five minutes, and we had a pleasant dinner.  We even found another customer willing to snap a group photo.

But little did LBeau and I know that the fun was just getting started.  We had taken three cars to accommodate the eight adults and three children in car seats.  By the time LBeau, Mema and I got home, the others were already there and getting the kids in bed.  Or so we thought.

Surprise!!

Under the direction of Katie, the kids had spent weeks plotting a surprise anniversary party.  Glenda was in charge of the festive decorations on the island, the boys provided beer, and Connie brought wine as well as a delicious spread that Walker called chocolate stuff on crackers (he asked for it for breakfast this morning).

Janice made a delicious appetizer, and Claire spent the afternoon baking a cake at a friend’s house, which she later decorated on the bed in her room upstairs.  It was a complete surprise, and I was blown away.  Afterward all of our friends gathered for a group photo.

Connie and Terry, KBeau and LBeau, Susie and Wayne, Walt and Glenda, Janice and Don

When Claire instructed us to act goofy, Connie whispered, “Make out.”  So we did.

There are lots of years and lots of happy marriages in that picture.  Thanks everyone.