A sorta Surprise Birthday

I wanted to throw a surprise birthday party for my mom. I initially wanted to go really big and invite a lot of people, but then I started to doubt my abilities to pull a big party off and decided a more intimate party with just a few close friends would work better. Of course, I still wanted it to be a surprise.

Unfortunately, my mom is an uber planner and its practically impossible to get anything past her or to get her to stay hands free from all planning.

A few weeks before the party I set the scene to get my mom to the lake property, the location of the party, and to stop her from planning anything on her own.

Me: So, I was thinking for your birthday the whole family should go up to the lake and Martin and I will make dinner.
Mom: That sounds good.

And then, I reconfirmed with her the day before the party.

Me: So, we're going to go up to the lake for dinner tomorrow night, right?
Mom: Yeah. I've got some steaks marinating and I made a potato salad.

.....of course you did.

Then, the morning of the party Martin brought drinks, chips and a picnic table up to the lake at 5:00AM before my mom woke up.

....and then, true to form, my mom decided to scoot up to the lake in the afternoon and mow the lawn.

Needless to say, the most surprised person there was Garrett whom we'd neglected to inform about the festivities. But I think everyone had a good time, surprised or not.

And probably the most offensive part of the whole evening:
Mom: I knew something was up when you offered to cook dinner. You never offer to make dinner.

Apparently, I also need to really up the ante on cooking for family events.


I apologize for the lack of pictures. I forgot to take photos of the event.