Surprise! I flew Emily, Nathaniel, and Audrey down for the day!

October 7, Saturday

I'm so grateful that everything worked out today with Emily and Audrey and Nathaniel visiting. I'm so grateful I woke up before my alarm went off at 6:50 AM. Michael had stayed up late so he was still asleep so I just got ready quietly. I left the house around 8:20 AM. Michael was sound asleep and Dad was still in Jonny's room with the door closed so I just told Andrew and Jonny that I was going to run an errand and left. I called Safeway and they had the cake done already so I picked that up. Then I went to the airport and I was there just a few minutes before they walked out. I was so happy to see all of them! I asked if they were hungry and they were so we went to Panera on Power and Ray. We got the food and they ate it on the way home. I wasn't exactly sure what to do because I thought maybe we should walk in through the front door but they thought we should just go in through the garage. I called Andrew on the way and he said both Dad and Michael were up so that was good. I had Emily go in first. I was excited and didn't quite know what to do, but Emily thought that it was a good idea for her to go in first and I followed her with the video camera. Michael's face was awesome! He looked completely shocked! He just stared in disbelief with his mouth hanging open.

Andrew immediately reacted. Michael got up and hugged Emily and it took Dad a minute to figure out what was going on. Michael and Andrew had been watching football in the family room and Dad was sitting at the kitchen table so it took him a minute to realize that it was Emily. Jonny and Daniel walked in in complete shock. I gave them a few seconds to let that sink in and then I said are you ready for me to blow your mind? Then I realized Nathaniel and Audrey were still in the laundry room and I needed to get their attention so I snapped my fingers and whispered come on out and they did. I later apologized to them for that because I wished I had thought it through but they thought it was funny and didn't mind. They came out and everybody freaked out. Everybody started giving each other hugs. Dad looked at me and asked, did I know? I had to chuckle at that. At first, he thought that they had driven here. It took them a minute to figure out that I picked them up from the airport. I've kept saying to Emily, “It's a completely brilliant plan!” That's a funny line from Legally Blonde. I looked at Michael and I asked, "Are you surprised?" Daniel was shocked and he said, "You mean you didn't tell Dad?" I told him that the three of them and I were the only ones who knew. Then I told them that they're just here for the day and they go back at 9 PM tonight. It took a little while for the shock to wear off for everybody. Michael was thrilled to have them here and of course Papa was, too. The boys were excited as well.

We hung out and talked for a little while. They immediately wanted to play Mario Kart. Audrey, Nathaniel, Daniel, and Andrew all played. Jonny and Emily wanted to play Rummikub and Papa joined in. Then I joined in on the next game. Then Nathaniel and Audrey took over for my place and played another game. I think Emily won the first one and then Jonny won the other two. Eventually, everybody got dressed to go to lunch. I set up the tripod to take pictures outside and inside. 

We went to High Tide Seafood and lunch worked out perfectly. They gave us a big round table for nine people and we had a wonderful meal. I made it a point to tell everyone that I recognize that it wasn't just me who came up with the idea, but it was a prompting I received to make this plan for them to come visit. I knew Dad really wanted to see them all and I wanted to surprise Michael and the boys. Dad didn't understand what I meant at first, and I said I mean it was a prompting from God, and he said, “Well, most things are, aren't they?” I said, "That's true!" We got a few appetizers and everyone seemed happy with their food. Emily and I got enchiladas, Andrew and Daniel got the High Tide burger, Nathaniel got the surf and turf burger, Jonny got shrimp and chips, and Michael and Dad and Audrey all got gumbo. I told Audrey that we wanted to celebrate her birthday but we'd have to do it at home because the restaurant wouldn't hold the cake for me and I didn't want it to melt in the car while we went bowling anyway. And then I told her about how I had wanted to get her Olivia Rodrigo tickets but we weren't able to get them but that I am paying for the tickets that Emily got and the two of them can go together. Then I told Dad that if he wants to go to the Phoenix race he can and he's pretty excited about making that work. Andrew wants to go with him. That works out fine because Daniel got to go last time. I wanted to bring up Disney World before the food came but it came early and so I gave everyone a little time to start eating and then I brought it up. I know Emily was anxious to talk about it. Andrew seemed pretty excited about it. So did Nathaniel and Audrey but they said that Audrey will have to look into it with her job. Dad wants to go with us but he probably won't stay at the condo and instead go home at night but I don't know if that's going to work. Anyway, we had fun talking about our plans and what parks we want to go to. 

I thought we were taking our time eating our food and talking but we were pretty much done shortly after 1 PM and the bowling reservation wasn't until 2:30 PM. We paid the bill and people went to the bathroom and we talked a little longer. Then finally we all left and figured we would just go to Main Event see if they could take us early. Thankfully, they could. They had our lanes ready and got us right in. We got our shoes and we each had an hour on our lanes. We had lanes 1, 2, and 3 for an hour each. Lane one was me and Andrew and Daniel, lane two was Michael and Emily and Jonny, and lane three was Dad and Nathaniel and Audrey. I won overall but Dad and Andrew beat me on the second game. We had a great time. Everybody was at least able to play two games and on lanes two and three they got started on their third game before time ran out. They each had an episode of the lane glitching and the guy had to come and fix it. I had asked if he'd add a couple minutes to their time and they did. 

Anyway, we had a great time and we gathered all our things and headed home. Everybody kind of chilled for a little bit. Nathaniel and Audrey were pretty tired. Michael and Andrew and Dad were watching some football. Then we all gathered to have Audrey's cake. It was so pretty I hated to put the candles on it but we did and we sang to her and she blew them out. 

Then she opened the gifts. I got her a nice pop-up card and some money. Dad got her some money and a book. Then everyone had some cake. Then we played some games. Daniel really wanted to play Monopoly but we knew that wasn't going to work with nine people. First, we played Herd Mentality. Daniel won two times in a row. Then we played Five Second Rule. Michael and Nathaniel tied so they had to have a tiebreaker and Michael finally won. Then we switched over to Jackbox games. We played Trivia Murder Party and Michael won that. Then we played Quixort. Dad just watched on the Jackbox games. Nathaniel, Audrey, Andrew and I lost to the others on Quixort. By then it was time to have a prayer and let everybody have a little something to eat and then it was time to go to the airport. Jonny and Daniel stayed home and the rest of us rode along. We said our goodbyes and they headed to security and we went back home. Nobody cared about watching a movie so I just sat downstairs and played on my phone while Michael and Dad and Andrew watched some football highlights and part of the game. Eventually we all started heading to bed.

What an amazing, fantastic day!