The Walsh Daily: Carter's 6th Birthday- Oh, what a DAY!

If you know anything about Carter, you know that since about the age of 2 the plans for his birthday party start in about mid January. Of course the entire scenario changes about 52 times and involves a different set of people about every other month. This year it was going to be tricky trying to plan anything because we had no guarantee that Ty would be back from his deployment. As the time got closer and things started to fall more in place, we had about a 90% chance that Ty would for sure make it back before the 29th of May. So, Ty and I started looking into making this a birthday our little man would NEVER forget! We found unbelievable airfare into Denver on the morning of the 29th, my Dad made some phone calls and got us amazing tickets to the Rockies vs. Dodgers that evening, and with it being Memorial Day weekend we got free tickets to the game the next afternoon too! Of course several phone calls were made to invite family from Wyoming down for the ultimate "SURPRISE" birthday for our little man. Our plane tickets didn't leave until Tuesday morning so Ty and I also decided to sign up to run the Bolder Boulder with Brandon and Julie. It was set to be a wild and event packed weekend, for sure!

While Ty and I were in Hawaii, we talked about the different ways we were going to surprise him that morning when we woke him up and couldn't wait for that morning to come. Unfortunately, we ran into a bit of a hold up. Remember that 10% chance we were willing to take? Yea, shame on us. As much as I wanted to call the whole thing off, the "show" had to go on. So, on Saturday morning the 29th, Whitleigh, Ty (via phone) and I woke Carter up by singing him "Happy Birthday." He smiled a big smile, adjusted his eyes and immediately ran out to the living room to open his presents. At this point, I had to tell him that his "presents" couldn't be wrapped his year... they were just too big. Of course this meant NOTHING to him. I told him that his day would be filled with 6 HUGE surprises and that he would be getting them one at a time throughout the day. He smiled very nervously and then I asked him if he was ready for the first surprise. I told him that we were going on a trip for his birthday and it was to Colorado! Tears filled his eyes and his bottom began to quiver. It wasn't long before he started crying and saying as politely as ever, "No Mom... No... that's not what I had planned... how are my friends from school suppose to come?"

Definitely NOT the reaction we were expecting.

I had about 15 minutes to smooth the situation over and manage to get two kids dressed and out the door in order to get to the airport on time so, I told him that his next surprise would be given to him in about 1 hour. That statement seemed to sell the "trip" a little more and turn the frown UPSIDE-DOWN!

I wondered the entire way to the airport what Carter's mind was thinking and about 15 minutes outside of Boise, I found out. Carter sadly said, "Mom, I think going taking a trip to Colorado sounds like fun but it's going to take forever to get there." I just smiled and told him to try not to think about it. Then I reminded him that he was getting his second surprise in about 15 minutes. As we neared the airport parking lot, Carter's wheels started turning and all of a sudden he says,"Why are we going to the airport? WAIT... DO WE GET TO FLY TO COLORADO?!" To this I say, "SURPRISE #2!"

Within an instant, Whitleigh gets one of the most terrified looks on her face and screams in horror, "NO!" all while Carter is now jumping up and down in pure joy!

Reason #21 why I wanted Ty to be with me on this trip.

Whitleigh is a fearful child and doesn't care for a lot of movement. Obviously a large problem when it comes to air travel.

We got through the airport... all three of us, two car seats, two suitcases, a carry-on and Carter's backpack (he was too "excited" to carry it). From the minute we passed through the electric doors, Whitleigh had to be verbally reassured every 30 seconds that we were NOT going to be flying, but instead just visiting an airplane.

Yes, I lied! Only because for the first 4 times that I didn't, she dropped into uncontrollable tears and babbling and there was only so much I could take of that at 7:03 AM!!!!!

It came time to board the plane and it went just as you are imagining right now. Carter whistled and skipped ever so happily down the ramp and onto the plane all of which seemed to trigger Whitleigh to panic and literally climb to the top of my head as if it were safer. She took one glance at the open door and placed both arms and legs out as if I were trying to throwing her into a pool of fire. Lucky for me, once I wrestled her into the plane and she saw the amount of people sitting and looking directly at her and she immediately dropped her head into my shoulder and whisper/cried, "Mommy, we not going to blast-off, right?"

Over and over and over.

Here's how take-off went (be sure to listen to Carter too):

After we were airborne and leveled off, Carter fell asleep (standard) and Whitleigh finally settled down. Praise the Lord. Two very loooonnnggg, exhausting hours later, we landed in Denver. I told Carter he would get his third surprise before we retrieved our luggage (the surprise of my brother and his fiance waiting for us near baggage claim.) He rounded the corner from the escalators and unfortunately the plan of just "accidentally" running into them was given away by the fact that my brother stands 6'4". Needless to say, Carter caught a glimpse of a "tall" person, took a double take and slowly muttered, "Mom... I think ... I just.... saw.... UNCLE BRANDON & AUNT JULIE!" Both kids could hardly believe it! The funny thing was, they would have both been completely happy with that being "the day."

We went back to Julie's house to hang out and burn some time. The rest of the family was all traveling down from Wyoming that morning and the plan was to meet up at Dave & Buster's around 12:30 for Surprise #4. As we were relaxing and watching the kids enjoy a game of Hide & Seek, I got a phone call from Ty. He was just given word that he was now scheduled to come home on Monday afternoon. If you recall, our tickets didn't leave Denver until Tuesday morning. I quickly hung up the phone and was on the telly with Southwest Airlines to rearrange our flight home. Why not... I mean really, I needed something to keep my mind busy on this "lazy" Saturday, right? :-D After just a few minutes on the phone, our tickets were easily changed without any problems. Southwest Airlines was extremely helpful in finding me tickets that would only, ONLY increase my original cost by a few several (4!) Benjamin's. [Shhh... Ty doesn't know that part and won't until he reads this. Ty, if you ARE reading this... it's neither here nor there are this point, right?]

Alright so, it was finally time to leave for Dave & Busters. I chose not to tell Carter that Surprise #5 would be there waiting for him. Figured it would be too obvious. For all he knew, we were simply going to lunch. So, when we pulled up and I intentionally took extra time getting both kids out of their seats. In the mean time, Brandon and Julie hurried inside to gather the rest of the family. When we walked in and this is how it went:

The lunch and arcade was enjoyed by all and before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel to get checked-in and ready for the game. Once we settled into our room, I called Ty and he broke the news of the game to Carter. Surprise #6! Excited is a dull word to describe his reaction. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Everyone got to the stadium and seated just in time to watch the final part of batting practice. The game started off and I don't think the boys (Carter, Jack and Trey) took their eyes off the field for the first three innings. It was hysterical to watch each of the kids. Allyson mothered Whitleigh and made sure she was warm, fed and comfortable. Whitleigh milked the attention for everything it was worth. Carter and Jack's bottoms never actually sat in a seat. They stood and jumped in place, cheered, punched, exchanged karate moves, ate hot dogs and participated in the "wave" with Uncle Brandon (wink, wink) most of the time. Trey, on the other hand, sat quietly and studied every movement of the players and the game. He preferred to be as far away from Carter and Jack as possible... they were just such a distraction! As for us adults, who needs a baseball game for entertainment when you bring a circus act with you? Kidding. We all had an amazing time and I, in particular, missed my husband terribly and wished so badly he could be right there with us.

At the top of the 5th inning, Carter was given yet another surprise that was arranged by Papa. He honestly couldn't believe it. It was perfect!