Surprise!

On Saturday night, Abel threw me a totally epic surprise (early) birthday party. (We both agree that the word epic is completely overused right now, but, really, it is absolutely appropriate in this instance!)

It. Was. Amazing.

And I was totally, completely, utterly surprised. (Which was so fun!)

So I thought that we were going out to dinner with our good friends Chase and Ian. We headed over to their house for a pre-dinner drink and met Chase on the balcony. She got us to look over at the back corner of her yard, under the ruse that there was a raccoon back there. Suddenly, out of no where, 30+ friends came out from under the deck and yelled, "Surprise!"

I was shocked:

So much so that at first I didn't even register what was happening:

After composing myself, I went down to give everyone a hug and thank them for coming. I looked around thinking we must be grilling out in Chase and Ian's backyard or just having drinks with our friends.

But, oh no, there was more. Much more.

Abel then tells me that a bus is coming to pick us up to take us all to a restaurant in Annapolis.

I didn't believe him.

Until everyone started shaking their heads and telling me it was, indeed, true.

So we walk out front, turn to the left, and what do we see parked a block away?

This:

Yes, we all piled into a school bus that our friends had pre-stocked with several coolers of beer and boxes of wine (no glass allowed). It was hysterical and a blast at the same time. I mean, when had any of us last been on a school bus? And I know for certain I'd never cracked open a Miller Lite on one!

After a fun-filled 30-minute drive, we caused a bit of a ruckus when we pulled into the teeny-tiny parking lot of Jimmy Cantler's Riverside Inn with our big, yellow school bus! Not to mention that we had a party of 32 at a restaurant that doesn't take reservations! But, no worries. We socialized in the parking lot with a few extra drinks from the bus and got to enjoy a perfect evening and a great view...

To be honest, my head was still spinning and it was just so fun to hang out with so many great friends.

Before we knew it, we were led to our table--one huge table and another smaller one. (Our group is the entire group straight back and also everyone on the back left!). As we walked in, I heard several comments about the school bus full of people!

 We all enjoyed a fantastic dinner of crabs and seafood and finished it off with a delish homemade cake.

By the time Stu and our school bus came back to retrieve us, we all agreed that this should be an annual event!

All day Sunday and Monday I peppered Abel with questions about how in the world he pulled the whole thing off. Apparently there had been months of planning and lots of help, but the bulk of all the work was his alone. (Numerous attendees told me how hard he'd been working on it and how he'd thought of every detail!) I truly feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have such an amazing husband and so many fantastic friends!

Here's to a great year!

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!