Feb. 8 - Surprise!

Brad thought we were in for a lazy Friday night at home, but I had other plans!! He had mentioned a few weeks ago about wanting to go back up to Black Hawk/Central City. It's about an hour away, and they have a bunch of casinos/hotels built right into the mountains. We hadn't been there for a long time, so I decided that I would surprise him for Valentine's Day. I LOVE to plan things, so this was right up my alley! I had been scheming for almost 3 weeks to make it work. Let me tell you, this would have been far easier back before we were parents!

I arranged for Grandma Cindy to pick Nolan up from daycare and take him for the night. She also ran to our house and grabbed the dogs. (See, it's really like I have 3 babies....4 if you count Brad!) Brad went to play poker with his friends last Wednesday night, so it was the perfect time for me to pack a bag for him. I knew that he would be oblivious to his 'missing' clothes, so that part was a piece of cake. I just had to make it through the next two days without spilling the beans! Thursday night I successfully loaded the bags in the trunk without him knowing....I was so scared he'd catch me that I was shaking when I came back inside! I had even packed up Nolan's diaper bag to leave for Cindy and he didn't even notice. Friday morning went well.....I just had to make sure I got to the paper at daycare before he did so I could write that Grandma was picking him up. By the time I got to work that day, I was so proud of myself for not telling him my big secret that I couldn't stop smiling! I even made it to the ATM that day without him knowing.

I showed up in his lobby to wait for him, and he thought I was working in a conference room for the afternoon. He called my cell phone to say he was ready to go (we carpool every day) and I told him I'd be waiting in the usual spot. The look on his face when he came around the corner was priceless!! He was so confused....I told him I had a surprise and he asked if it was good news. His co-worker Jessica was with him, and she asked if I was pregnant!! Now, I don't know about you, but to me that would NOT be good news to someone who has a 4-month old!! haha He was definitely surprised, and I couldn't have been happier! We had a great time, even though we came back with less money than we started out with. We slept for almost 10 hours - it was great!! But the next day we were ready to come home and see our little man.....we missed him!

Here's a view of Black Hawk when you come around the corner of the mountain (we stayed at the Isle of Capri, first on the left):