The One With the Surprise Ending

In case you were wondering, everything went according to plan this weekend for the party.

Just not my plan.

Sure, I got up, ran my race, and got all of the last minute errands done on time before Patrick's 30th birthday party started. The tents were set up in the backyard, the BBQ was off the grill and being chopped up, and Patrick's {surprise!} 30th birthday cake was safely hidden out of sight.

It was about 4:15, 45 minutes before Patrick's party was due to start, when things started to not quite go the way that I had planned them. Patrick insisted that I stop decorating/setting things up for his party and go upstairs to get myself ready for it. Even his mom kept hinting that maybe I should go change. Eventually I caved and went to go get ready.

That's when my brother called. He and his girlfriend Jen had been at the zoo all afternoon with her two boys and the kids had had it. They were so over the day. All they wanted to do was go home so Jen was going to take them back to Charleston... would it be a problem if I came to pick him up and bring him to the party? Not a problem at all! Especially since he was on the botanical garden side of the zoo and only a short 5 minute drive away.

I ran to tell Patrick what was going on and he said that he would drive me over there to pick him up. My keys were no where to be found and we ended up hopping into his mom's car and driving over there.

I texted my brother:

At this point, we're pulling into the botanical garden entrance at the zoo and I am was not happy. Like really not happy. And when Patrick opted to park the car instead of driving over to the pick up area? Um, no sir.

And then he got out of the car?!

Y'all, I fussed at Patrick and told him to get back in the car and drive back over to the pick up area. He walked over to my side of the car, got me out of the car, and I gave him an entire list of reasons why this change of plans was not ok and told him exactly how irritated I was in that moment. I caused a little bit of a scene but somehow Patrick got me to walk into the botanical gardens to go look for my brother, Jen, and the boys. It made zero sense to me why were doing this. We had a dozen people already at the house and more were due any minute. This was not a part of my plan for the day!

But into the botanical gardens we walked.

When we got to the garden, he suggested that we make a quick loop around it to find them so we could get back to the house. I said something about how late we were going to be. Patrick said that it was his party, he wanted to be fashionably late to it. He stopped me in the middle of the gardens and I took that opportunity to call my brother to find out where the heck he and Jen were. Turns out, we weren't actually there to pick up my brother...

We're ENGAGED!

{as if I didn't already love the zoo enough, now I have even more reasons to love it!}

Patrick {and his mom and my mom and everyone else} hijacked the birthday party and turned it into an engagement party. So yes, that means that I planned my own engagement party without knowing that I was doing so.

I wouldn't have had it any other way. I got to walk into a house full of our family and friends who were ready to celebrate with us.

Note: I cried a LOT. Then cried some more when we got back to the house and started getting hugs and congratulations from everyone. My picture loving self was also totally thrown off her game and I got zero pictures that I would have taken had I been thinking straight.

But I got this one with my family! Minus Patrick. Because I wasn't thinking at all.

Best day ever?

You bet.

I want to give a huge shout out to everyone who helped make Saturday so special! From John hiding in the bushes taking secret pictures to my family helping scheme to get me out of the house to Patrick's family cooking up BBQ and decorating for the party... it meant so much to us both!