A couple of weekends ago it was my Mum's birthday - let's just say she turned ... 35. Anyway, my sisters and I organised a surprise party for her, which was a little risky as she had been insisting that she didn't want a big fuss or a party - just family around for a bbq.
That morning, Auntie Karen and Uncle Gary arrived in Rocky from Mackay, bringing Nanny with them. Well, no-one could wait for Mum to open her pressies, so they gave them to her then. Isn't she beautiful?
Later on the in the afternoon, the main surprises arrived - her brother and his wife (she's like a 'real' sister to Mum and Auntie Karen) and their two kids from Brisbane, as well as her other brother from Brisbane. They were the major part of the surprise, and what we all looking forward to the most. The look on her face when they arrived says it all:
We had arranged for Auntie Karen and Auntie Debbie to take Mum out for coffee so that we could get ready for the party, and so that her other two surprise guests could arrive (some long-time friends who she doesn't see all that often). Here's Mum with Auntie Karen:
Getting ready for the party is a breeze when you've got the men of the family who are all 9 foot tall (well, that's a bit of an exaggeration):
When Mum walked through the door, she was so happy!
She said that she suspected something was going on when all of a sudden she was dragged out for coffee, but thought it was just so that we could do something with her present! She wasn't expecting this:
And then she looked over and saw the cakes:
The cakes were made locally here in Mackay, and then we transported them down to Rocky in our car. Sugar Siren Cakes did such a fantastic job with the inspiration photos I gave her and our colour scheme, they looked far too good to eat.
Mum opened her presents, with the main one being from all the family - a hot air balloon ride over the Gold Coast! The first picture is when she opened it, the second one is when she realised she'd actually have to do it (rather than just talk about it) now!
Then the party started. Mum has this thing for silly hats and other attire, and this time she had bought some silly glasses for us all to wear. Obviously, she had grossly underestimated the number of people there, so Na had bought the extras that we needed so that we were all 'lucky' enough to have a pair of our own. There were some crackers there, and everyone wore them with good grace!
Even Nanny got in on the action and looked smashing!
As normal, we had to have the obligatory family photos. Well, with our family, this is never straight forward - look how many shots we had to take (and these are the 'grown ups') to get the 'good' one. Personally, I think the best ones aren't necessarily the 'good' one!
For dinner, we had a 'hot dog smorgasboard' with a create-your-own hotdog stand with a heap of different toppings. It was a lot less work than a normal bbq, and something a bit different. Unfortunately, I don't think there were any photos taken of that part of the night, despite the 26 cameras in attendance!
All in all, it was such a fabulous night, and worth the organising and cloak-and-dagger involved with smuggling everything into the house when John and I arrived from Mackay the day before. Mum has this way of getting information out of everyone even when it's supposed to be a secret, but this time she didn't succeed!
Happy (belated) birthday Mum, you are so loved by the whole family.
1 comment:
About time. I've hanging out to see some of the photos. As usual, you've done a great job of capturing the felling of the night. A big thank you to you, Stace & Na for what was a fantastic celebration.
Dad
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