happy birthday, mom!

When Dad turned 60 last November, we made a big fuss with a big surprise party. I flew in to surprise both of them, and Megan and I also collected 60 memories from friends & family as a gift to Dad. The whole thing was an absolute blast. Since then, we've been scheming about how to properly celebrate Mom's upcoming 60th. We bounced around a lot of ideas before finally settling on a trip for the whole family.

Well, today is the big day, and (drumroll, please) we are whisking Mom off for four days of celebrating in the Big Easy!

We've kept everything a big surprise, and we have even more surprises up our sleeves (!!!), but for now, you only get to know what she knows. This morning she opened a gift box containing a Mardi Gras mask & this note:

For every trip we've ever taken as a family (and every holiday, event, celebration, etc.), Mom has done most of the planning and prep work. Then she usually spends the whole vacation making sure everyone else is having a good time. She's such a mom.

But this vacation is all for her. She gets to just sit back, relax and enjoy while the rest of us make sure every detail is perfect.

It was easy to surprise Dad for his birthday, but surprising Mom is an entirely different ballgame. None of the men in our family can keep a secret, and I'm not going to lie, it's been really hard for Megan & me, too. Here's how we managed to pull it off...

We started by sending her a save the date back in February. We sent it via email, which was probably a mistake because she assumed it was spam and deleted it. Oh, Mom.

One month later, we sent her the actual invitation, which was her first clue that her birthday surprise involved travel.

We also put together a little mani pedi package that we sent about a week ago. We wanted her to be properly pampered before the big day. Notice the purple & gold Mardi Gras colors? The polish was a little hint about where she was headed!

As we speak, she is on her way. Destination: New Orleans. I am so excited for everything we have planned this week, and I can't wait to see Mom's reaction. I hope it will be a trip to remember for all of us.

Happy 60th, Mom! We love you!