Surprise!

Dad is turning 60. When Grandma reminded me of that back in November I was floored. Completely caught off guard. What? How could my dad be turning 60? It couldn't be. He's supposed to be, like, 45, right? Okay, fine, I do remember 50, then mid-50's. Okaaay, then late 50's. But that is where time is supposed to stop. I can't handle this anymore.

Sure enough, Tell and Lace were just as surprised to hear the news. How did that sneak up on us?

Immediately we set out on a plan with Mom to surprise him. The best gift we could give Dad would be all of us together. That we knew. But how could that happen with one of us in Michigan and one of us in school in Tennessee?

After some dialogue, we settled the 'where': the nearest and largest airport hub to the rest of the family - Minneapolis; and the 'when': the weekend of MLK - when all those in school would have an extra day off. Then it was 'how.' That was when we concocted an elaborate plan to surprise Dad.

I would be the first of the children to arrive on Friday at the airport. A shuttle driver would transport me to the hotel. Grandma and Ron would already be there, having caught a red-eye from Denver. They would help me decorate the room and order food for supper. Perfect. √

Lace and her gang would arrive around 4pm by car. They would hide in their hotel room with Grandma and Ron, waiting for Mom and Dad to arrive around 4:30pm. With them in hiding, I would take cover in the pool area and the front desk would hand Dad his first clue. Tell would arrive later as we were eating, surprising Dad who would think Tell couldn't make it. Perfect.

Er. Well. 

Lace calls. "We have a slight problem." "What?" "Dad just pulled up next to us on the freeway and saw us." "WHAT??" Now, how could that be possible? Sure enough, Dad was WAVING to them from the driver's seat.

Well, guess that's out. Plan B?

In the end, we still pulled it off. Yeah, Dad knew the Tysvers were there, but we figured he would just by the fact he was in Minnesota with no real good explanation at that point. (Mom was just telling him to "keep driving" at each major junction of their 6-hour trip from Bowdon to Minneapolis.)

Lace, Will, and the girls arrived a few minutes before Mom and Dad, still able to check in and "hide" in their room until Mom and Dad came. With rush hour traffic delaying those coming by car, Tell, who flew in around 4:30pm, arrived to the hotel before Mom and Dad and hid in the breakfast area.

We would still psyche Dad out with the next note and picture. 

 But Tell would soon pop up from behind the counter.

The hotel staff (HUGE shout out to Holiday Inn Express & Suites), were as excited as we were about the surprise and helped us every step of the way to ensure it was executed. They even upgraded our rooms!

What a kick-off to our weekend.

It was a sweet time together as family, celebrating an incredible man, husband, and dad.

Love you, Dad!