We were actually in California a little longer than I let on, but I couldn’t be public about it, because it was for a Secret Surprise.
My dad turns 70 later in December, but he’s going to be in Hawaii (lucky dog) and we won’t. But his work planned a surprise birthday party for him a week after Thanksgiving, and invited us. I really love birthday parties, I remember when I was a kid and used to go to a lot of kids birthday parties at http://www.jumpersjungle.com/las-vegas/.
It would have been just silly to drive down, drive up, and drive down again, especially since we were planning to spend a few days at Mark’s mom’s anyway. So we decided to just stay.
We saw Dad at Thanksgiving, then gave him a hug and told him to have a great time in Hawaii and we’ll see him in January when we come down for my mini-book-tour. Then we basically snuck around California, seeing family and friends (though not nearly as many as we’d wanted to, alas). (But we will be back in January!)
Both my parents turn 70 this month, in fact. So we were able to take Mom & Stepdad out for Mom’s birthday. No surprise on this one, but we were cagey about keeping ourselves out of the photo, on the off chance Dad checked Facebook. 🙂
We were very briefly in the Bay Area, where I noticed there have been some changes to a bridge since I moved away.
Old Bridge.
New Bridge.
And speaking of bridges, the Golden Gate made this cool mini-tower effect in the fog.
The day of the surprise party finally arrived! And it came off beautifully. Dad had NO IDEA. The surprise on his face was priceless. I didn’t get a photo because I was busy blowing a noise-maker, along with everyone else.
But there was a cool cake:
Yes, Giants Fandom is a thing in my family.
Then Friday, we drove home all day, and have been basically playing catch-up since then. There is SO MUCH to do! I got a pile of freelance work while we were gone. And I have a book coming out on Tuesday! I’m excited and nervous! More exclamation points!!
Oh and my uncle and his girlfriend were extras in a TV movie. Here’s the backs of their heads:
Now your day is complete.