The SURPRISE

I believe I mentioned two posts ago that a surprise for The Hubs was in the works.
Because he knew a surprise of some sort was coming for his birthday, I had a bit of fun with the misdirection:

1. Discussed hot air ballooning ad nausim
2. Left http://www.cruise.com/ up on the browser of our shared laptop
3. Mentioned it's cheaper to update your passport in Idaho than in Arizona ( by kinda a lot, but not enough to make it worth the trip)
4. Told him I'd need a blood sample and current passport before I could finish booking his "surprise"
5. Oh, did I mention his surprise came a month early? No? Well, a birthday surprise ON your birthday is not so much of a surprise, now is it.

Let me clarify: we're on a budget here, folks. The Hubs is no dummy, but he's also married to an extremely expensive wife (I make it a point to never be more expensive than the paycheck...if I can help it)
He didn't have a clue that we were going to....

DISNEYLAND!!

But first, we wentt to breakfast with The Hubs Uncle E. Have you tried The Original Pancake House. Oh my goodness. I'm still carrying around an extra couple lbs from this place, but it was SOOO worth it. The crepes were awesome, the apple pancake was awesome. I must resist all temptation to reverse engineer these marvels of culinary genius or I will NEVER fit in my skinny jeans. Not that I have skinny jeans, but you know what I mean.

But Idaho Becky, you ask. How did you do Disneyland on a BUDGET?!?!?!

It helps to know someone. A Disney cast member, to be exact, because then, the tickets are FREE!

So I shelled out $120 for gas there and back, $130 for two nights in a three star hotel (I love Hotwire, don't you?) and then about $60 for food. Grandma and Grandpa watched our adorable kids. Strangly, the kids got even more adorable after our absence. Imagine that!

Cheapest three day trip ever.

Plus and also, I got to go to the beach, which is more my thing than The Hubs, but I went on California Scream'n with him, so I deserved it, don't you think? I'm WAY to old for that ride. Needed me some ocean to get my bearings back. People are just not meant to go upside down at 60 miles an hour.

We met Woody in person. He's really very nice. Not much of talker, though.

I ran out of film, eh hem, but The Hubs totally got the sword out of the stone. He's awesome like that. He can even unstick stuck jars! I know. Amazing, right?

To make up for the fact that The Hubs had to smell fish on the beach AND walk in, gasp, sand, I took him clear into Hollywood to eat at the best Thai restaurant EVER; Thai Patio. Seriously. The drunken noodle is to die for. We got FOUR meals so there would be leftovers for dinner (and lunch the next two days).

Love you, babe. Happy Birthday...A month early.

I should mention at this point that yes, The Hubs was taken completely by surprise. So much so that he didn't believe me. I had to show him the email from his boss, granting the time off I'd requested, and the travel bags packed and ready to go. Yes, I'm THAT devious. Makes you a little bit scared of me, doesn't it?

And a big shout out and thank you to Matt's Uncle who so sweetly took us to breakfast AND got us past the gates of Disney with our wallets in tact. You're the best, Uncle E!