Surprise!

Tim and Rusty have been planning a surprise birthday party for Diane for several months and it all came together this weekend. Diane admitted to having an inkling that something was up but she did not expect to see so many friends, colleagues, classmates and family members from out of town as were waiting for her when she opened the door.

After the shock of the surprise began to wear off, we all settled in for drinks and hors d'oeuvres. Cate got reacquainted with her cousins (second cousins? first cousins once removed? I never know that answer) Claire and Nicole. She was shy at first, but once she got her plate of fried ravioli, she told me that she wanted to take her "lunch" to the big girl table. That worked out great for me because I was busy trying to make sure that Timmy didn't pull the tablecloths off of the tables and start a fire with all of the tea candles.

Having Claire and Nicole there to play with Cate and Timmy was awesome. They played and ran around chasing balloons and I actually got to eat my dinner. It was great. Claire mediated the balloon sharing amongst the little kids and everyone was happy.

We had a great time and Cate and Timmy were little party animals. They finally fell asleep around 11 and have been making up for it at nap time every day since then. Happy Birthday, Nana!