Well, I'm happy to report that the element of surprise was effective after all.
The original plan for today was that we and our son & his family were going to go out to a local Chinese restaurant for dinner in lieu of a birthday party for LMFD, leaving around 4 to 5. While we were out, the rest of the family was going to come over, decorate the house, and throw a little surprise party when we got back.
That got deep sixed on Wednesday. My grandson got picked for the Little League travelling team, and they had a practice scheduled for 6 PM tonight.
So instead, the immediate family came over for a cookout at noon. (Did kind of torpedo my Field Day plans, I was supposed to be on the overnight shift, so that went out the proverbial window).
And we took her out to a movie at 5, to make up for the "lost" dinner plans. I'm sure you can figure out what happened while we were out... she even spotted the bag of party decorations, and asked. I told her that we'd planned to have the family over after dinner, but with the kids coming over at lunchtime instead, that got scrapped. (And I didn't lie -- the original plans DID get scrapped, we just came up with a new plan)
So 7 PM, we pull in the garage. She heads up the basement steps to grab LucyFurr for her walk... and walks in on everyone sitting around chatting, waiting for her. Surprise! In fact, a double surprise, as they didn't hear the garage door open & close (being too busy yapping, but that's the family), and thought we were going to come in the front door (which would not have worked, they were all parked in the neighbor's driveway, which is right by the front door!).
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All in all, a good time was had by all. LMFD got her surprise party after all, and she got to see the kids. And I got to spend money on this, that, and the other thing... as expected.