HUGE Surprise for Our Daughters!!

Faithful readers will recall that Susan and I were happy to spend Thanksgiving in Mandan in part due to its being so near to the airport in Bismarck. If you don't know why that would be important to us, join our daughters: they had no clue, either, that we had been planning for months to surprise them the day after Thanksgiving with . . . (wait for it!) . . . a vacation in Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL!!

By "we had been planning," I really mean "Susan," who arranged it all:

• arranging for travel and accommodations at Port Orleans Riverside resort
• planning each day's itinerary (and researching which attractions are worth extra time and which are worth skipping altogether)
• making reservations in advance for our dining each day
• creating three sets of Disney-themed T-shirts for us all to wear
• creating autograph books for the girls to collect characters' signatures at each park
• creating passports for them to get stamps at each country featured in Epcot
• creating journals for them to record memories of the trip and activity-and-snack packets to occupy them during the plane rides to and from
• researching special treats available to children at each park (like a ride with the pilot up front in the monorail cab)
• buying supplies for the trip (fat-barrelled pens so that the characters could get their thick gloves wrapped around them for autographs, battery-powered fans for keeping cool, ponchos for the water rides, Crocs footwear for comfort while walking each day, an extra memory card for the digital camera, etc.)
• sneaking away clothes to pack for the girls while they were out at ballet and piano and gymnastics lessons
• getting cash and envelopes to decorate to leave tips for our room's "mousekeeper" each day (knowing that, in return, the mousekeeping staff leave special treats in the room for guests to find at the end of the day)
• and undoubtedly much more of which I'm simply not aware.

Many relatives knew in advance but never spilled the beans. The girls' teachers knew, too, but never said a word, only telling Susan how exciting it was and assuring her that they would set aside homework for the girls to catch up upon our return. The girls were unsuspecting and never asked a question as we loaded up four suitcases, a new backpack-style purse, a large shoulder bag, and a laptop for our one-hour drive to Mandan on Thanksgiving. They didn't question us at 3:30 A.M. today when we had them get up, brush their teeth, get dressed, and get into the van (in fact, they assumed we were heading out for day-after-Thanksgiving shopping specials that they had seen on TV--"Stores open at 4:00 A.M.!").

We drove past the shopping mall and into the airport parking lot, and Abigail tentatively announced, "Um, we're at the airport." Susan asked, "What do we usually do at an airport?" "Pick up relatives," the girls decided, so Susan and I let it go at that. When I parked and started unloading all the luggage and bags, the girls thought it made sense for us to make room in the vehicle for the luggage of whichever relative we were picking up (they assumed it was Aunty Sandy, by the way). Inside the airport, they were perfectly willing to help Susan and me put luggage tags on each bag, never asking why each tag featured a picture of Cinderella's castle and the words "Walt Disney Travel Company"--or why we even had luggage inside the airport at all. Susan and I were in awe of their lack of suspicion!

(I should give you, Faithful Reader, more of the story: We had already told the girls that we wanted to take them to Walt Disney World for our 15th anniversary, which will be next August. [We spent our honeymoon at Walt Disney World.] Citing that faux upcoming trip, we have been able to prepare them for this trip by talking about what is at Walt Disney World, what is involved in airplane travel, etc. Thinking we were going to Florida next summer, the girls never suspected a trip there now!)

Finally we asked the girls to examine the bag tags closely and to share their ideas for why we would be there in an airport with luggage and Walt Disney World travel tags. When they finally put two and two together, their reactions were awesome: jumping up and down, hugging, even some crying.

Unaware of what's in store.

After having figured it out, jumped up and down, squealed, cried (see Suzanna's red face), hugged, and simmered down for a photo.

The first airplane ride for all the girls (but not for Daddy).

We had smooth flights leaving Bismarck at 5:15 A.M. (our time) for Denver and then Denver at 8:30 A.M. for Orlando (with a quick meal of Quiznos subs at that early morning hour before the three-and-a-half-hour flight to Florida). Stay tuned for more to come!