Birthday Surprise

Most of you probably already know this, but I got a BIG surprise for my birthday earlier this month. We went out to eat at an Italian restaurant for dinner. Chris handed me three envelopes with Option 1, 2 and 3 written on them and told me to pick my birthday present.

I chose Option 1 and to my great surprise, in it was a map of Paris, Brussels and London! I sat puzzled for a moment not quite sure if it meant what I thought it meant and at the same time thinking "Of course that's what it means", but then thinking "Surely not." While all of this is swirling in my head, we look over just in time to see Robert throw up his milk all over the floor.

I then, of course, have to know what was in the other two envelopes. He finally let me look and it was two other trips, to Italy or Brazil. He said I could choose, but I decided to stick with Paris and London because he hasn't been to either of them. He has been planning this for months now, getting child care and dog care all arranged and he took care of making all of our reservations once the surprise was out.

I'm so excited about this trip. I've never been out of the U.S. and this is Chris and my first trip without kids in about 4 years. And that one hardly counts because we were working at a conference for his work the entire time. It will be hard to leave Robert for the first time, but he and Clara will be in good hands and I know they'll have a blast with Grandma and Grandpa. I just hope Robert goes easy on Grandma. I'm so grateful for everyone that's helping make this trip possible for us.

As for details, Clara and Robert will fly to Albuquerque to stay with Chris' parents. We fly to Paris and will be there for two full days, then take the train to London, stopping off in Brussels for one night. After 4 days in London, it's back to Albuquerque for a couple of days and then home. I'm tired just thinking about it, but sooo excited. There will be plenty of time to rest when we get home. I'm sure I'll be plopping the kids in front of the TV for a week while I try to re-acclimate.