Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Three Times The Surprise

My cousin Anna, yes, the same on who moved in down the street, turned 30 over the weekend and her sweet husband planned not one, not two, but three surprise parties for her. So, my weekend was more or less consumed with surprising Anna, although I don't think I yelled "Surprise" one time. 

The festivities kicked off Saturday afternoon at Shakalaka. You may recall I spent some time there for my own recent birthday. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Shakalaka has added a new area to the fun in the form of an obstacle course with ropes and bars and rings and tight ropes and all other manner of obstacle course fun. Remembering the trouble I had getting out of the foam pit at my birthday soiree, I elected not to participate in any activity that might land me in a foam pit. In other words, I only jumped on the regular trampoline and played some dodgeball. There were tons of people there, mostly children and to be honest, I didn't want to slow up their fun; nor did I want to fight my way out of the foam pit. They seriously need a step to get out of that madness. We jumped from 3:00 - 4:00 and burned a lot of calories and had even more fun. Sadly, I also walked away a case of Athlete's Foot which really isn't all that unusual as I tend to get it from time to time. 

After the jump around, I ran an errand for Jan, Anna's mom, and then went home to shower and change and prepare for party number two which was a gathering of some of Anna's friends from school, most of whom were from out of town. Jan made chicken enchiladas, taco meat and had a plethora of toppings. I made a five-layer dip (as opposed to a seven-layer) and some tortillas rolled up with cream cheese and Mexican spices that were apparently a big hit because they were all gone. I'm not sure how many people ended up at this party, but I would venture to say it was close to 40. Everyone seemed to be having a really great time and most importantly Anna was having a good time. 

There was so much food left over from the party that we gathered back at Benny and Jan's for lunch on Sunday which was great. After lunch, I headed home to take a nap which was more like a resting of the eyes more than anything. I also managed to get a few chores done around the house before heading out for the third and final party of the weekend. 

The last party was a family only party at Baumhower's (formerly known as Wing's) and seriously, the food there is sub par compared to when I waited tables there 137 years ago. Anna and Randy were the last ones to arrive and I think she was surprised, but honestly don't know because she made such a quiet entrance. There were about 15 of us in all and I am pleased to say we were served in a rather timely manner. I was hoping to be home by 8:00 p.m. that evening and, in fact, achieved that goal which made me very happy. It's not that I wasn't thrilled to celebrate with the family, it's more like I enjoy being home by 8:00 p.m. on work nights because I am old and set in my ways. 

It was a fun and eventful weekend celebrating Anna's 30th. Hope you have many more, cousin! 

1 comment:

Erika said...

Those $4 socks are worth it!!!

The foam pit is scary; I thought I'd never crawl out of that thing.