SURPRISE!!!

Oh what a fun surprise this party was!! Aliza had been saying for several months that she wanted a surprise party this year for her birthday. Well, several year ago I implemented the rule that you only have a "friends party" on your even year birthday. Since she was turning 7 I had been telling her that she wasn't going to have a friend party this year. She dropped the subject and we all kind of forgot about her desire for a surprise party. 

Fast forward a few weeks and David and I attend the "Critter Ball", a swanky fundraiser for the local SPCA that all the Who's Who's of Charlottesville attend. (I'm still not sure how we got invited, but it was fun nonetheless!).  Well, there was a silent auction there and one of the things was a birthday party at the SPCA with a magician and ice cream cake included. WE WON IT! We knew right away that we would use it to surprise Aliza. It was such a hard secret to keep because I was so excited about it.

Finally, the few hours before the party we let Carmen in on the secret. She became Daddy's helper as they rushed off to get the party ready and welcome the guests. Meanwhile, I told Aliza and the other kids that we were going to meet Daddy and Carmen for ice cream at Sweet Frogs, but we first had to stop at the SPCA because David had some scouting things to talk with them about. This wasn't so far fetched for them because the scouts had done some work for the SPCA for few months back. It all seemed completely normal to everyone.

Once we arrived and the cat was out of the bag (pun intended) I've never seen Aliza so speechless and shocked before!! It was so wonderful to finally see it all happen after months of waiting. The SPCA did all the work, which was great! We've never done the sort of party where it's held somewhere else besides our home. The magician did a show for nearly 45 minutes and hilarious! Then he made everyone some amazing balloon creations. Afterwards, we got to take a tour around the SPCA and see a lot of animals. This part was tricky because we were herding around 17 kids who all wanted to see the animals. But it was still wonderful. Then ice cream and presents followed. What a fun day! And hopefully we haven't set the bar too high for future parties...