Ohhhh boyeeeeee!
^^ ...in the sweet little voice of my favorite person ever.
But fo' rizzle, oh boy! What a weekend! Uncle Blake made a surprise trip home from Colorado [we've known about this "surprise" since August maybe? And my parents and I are pretty close and I can't even counttttt the number of times I've bitten my tongue in the last few months and smoothly covered up some small slip-ups but hallelujah! amen! Neither one of them ever latched on to the scheming and it turned out to be the BEST surprise ever!!!].
So!
Throwback to last Friday night and the story went a little summin' like this: my bro and his pup packed up their Jeep and pulled out of the condo at 7 in the ay to the emm ...and put the pedal to the metal across three entire states. I woke up in the morning super stoked for them to get here, but I didn't fully consider that a 962 mile drive plus a couple poop stops for the dog and food stops for the human and gas stops for the car would take such a .h.e.l.l.a...l.o.n.g...t.i.m.e! Anxiety building by the minute! The original plan was for Harper to be "trick or treating" all evening ...and we were going to spend the night at my parents' so we told them their house would be the last stop ...and so naturally, we would be there kind of late.
Waiting on Uncle Blake like tick, tock, tick, tock...
Pretty soon, I realized my interpretation of Blake's ETA was totally distorted and so the lies started rolling [scary easily, actually!].
6:00 pm be like, "We went out for dinner and saw some friends at the restaurant and they wanted us to stay for a couple drinks after we ate so we're getting a late start on trick or treating, but we're still coming tonight!"
Then 7:30 pm: "Just leaving our house...have several stops to make..." *nail biting commences*
9:15 pm: "We got stuck at Brian's sister's house! All the nieces and nephews were there, and Harper wanted to play... We just have to go to two more places then we'll be on our way!"
At 10:10 pm, my mom's like, "Are you ok??? Your Dad is feeling bad for Harper that she's out so late, do you guys just want to take her home and come tomorrow night?"
NO!!! No! No! Nooooooo.
"Nope, we'll be there soon!" My nails are bitten halfway down to the cuticle. #nervousnellybeme
...Meanwhile, we were actually still at our house which is 45 minutes away from my parents' house ...and my brother was just crossing into Illinois ...and Harper was passed out in her crib and had already been zonked for several hours!
So!
More hours passed!
Nervous pacing began!
Brian had to go to the gas station to get a Coke to stay awake!
And finally!
The Colorado caravan arrived at 11:15 pm!!!
We met at my dad's office in town so we could pull into the house driveway together...
...and...
[If the video doesn't play, you can WATCH IT HERE.]
Surpriseeeeeeee!!!
Beauty and the Beast have arrived; can we be [y]our guests?! Sarge was way too excited for photos!
It was a super late night by the time everyone [including Harper] hit the sack at 1:00 am, but Dad's half-dollar sized eyes and Mom's speechlessness when they opened the door made it all worth it! By the way, the Beauty and the Beast coordinating outfits were also Blake's idea, and I think Harper and Sarge pulled it off perfectly!!! So thrilled! More pics of their costumes to come in a separate post! ;) :)
What a night.
Holy heart attack.
The shock factor fizzled down but the excitement level did not; everyone popped out of bed early the next morning for the Harvest Hootenanny 5K in town. My dad raced at full intensity, my mom "walked briskly" with a group of her friends, and the rest of us stood around and helped my grandparents "man the corner" of the race course. Harper loved all the action!
Here comes Grandpa!
Exploring the beautiful fall foliage with Daddy!
The few hours after the 5K gave us an opportunity for a coffee run for the adults and a nap for the toddler, and then it was time for the Halloween parade! This is the parade when they unveil and recognize the Veiled Non-Profit, and this year my dad was chosen for all his awesome volunteerism and work and dedication to the community!!! A member of the board came over to help him get dressed...
...and then, of course, obligatory family photo op...
...and off to the parade! Harper's BFF Kate came to watch, too.
Here comes the Veiled Non-Profit! Who could he be??! ;) ;)
Unveiled!
Here's the poem they read [it was also in the newspaper for the last couple weeks as people tried to guess who the Veiled Non-Profit could be...]:
The Veiled Non-Profit will soon be revealed,
But until the parade, the name is concealed.
Here are some clues for those who can't wait...
"Born the year of the first televised debate.
Arrived in Hillsboro, but 'everybody loves Raymond',
Soon to come here, like they were always aimin'.
As one of four, the M's prevailed,
and title of eldest was proudly hailed.
Parents who grew up in the farming community,
stressed the importance of real family unity.
As a talented athlete right out of the gate,
and an honor graduate of '78.
Pursued a higher education at SIU-C,
and came out with more than just one degree.
Married a neighbor from a nearby town,
making Litchfield their home as they got off the ground.
Together they began a family of their own,
the B's started coming, and my, have they grown.
With one close by and the other far away,
the love of this family, no mountain will sway.
And now a granddaughter, a model, you are...
just like the magazine, oh, how bazaar!
From golfing, to fishing, or skiing down a mountain,
to working with the community, restoring our park fountain.
The list of involvement has formed our landscape,
Who could 'do' so much, without being in shape?
Giving of time and talent as only a favor,
Like father, like child, what a Good Neighbor!"
^^ Proud of this guy right thurrr'!
My mom hosted a party after the parade and unveiling...
...and we rounded out the weekend with some [legit, non-lied-about, middle of the day] trick-or-treating...
...and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters at Kate's house...
...and watching another Halloween parade...
...and phew! Just like that, Uncle Blake's home for the entire next week and 48 hours of this year's jam-packed, memory-filled, Halloween weekend was over!
More to come! :-* :-*
