Mom's Surprise 60th Birthday and Retirement Party

You may have suspected from reading this post (or know because you were there), we recently celebrated my mom's 60th birthday and retirement from teaching elementary school.  And it was a surprise.  A surprise my dad, Bryan and I have been planning for months, but was probably in the back of our heads for over a year.  

Mom and Dad put a pool in their back yard since last summer.  My dad has gone hog wild on this pool, also putting in things like a tiki bar and a screened-in gazebo for when the weather is not so nice.  The result is sort of like Disney meets Jimmy Buffet meets the south western United States.  Yes, there is a kokopelli on top of the mini rock waterfall, and no, you can't see the back side of water.  

When I was first thinking about this party for mom, the back yard didn't come to mind as the best place to host what should be a pretty classy shindig, but as the pool was put in and the other pieces came together, there was no better place to have it.  The problem was:  now that Mom was retired, how would we get her out of the house long enough to set up the party without her being suspicious?  That's where the Hotel DuPont came in.

When we were planning Megan's bridal shower back in February or March, my friend told me about the Green Room at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware.  They host a pretty fabulous tea there at 3pm every day.  My first thought was, I can't afford to have a shower there, but I could take the moms for a special tea!  My mom and my MIL, Joni, have birthdays just days apart.  So I called Joni and asked if she would like to go for her birthday, and also disclosed that while this was a birthday present to both of them, it would be perfect timing to get Mom out of the house so the party could get set up.  Also, with the Hotel DuPont being as special as it was, I hoped it would throw Mom off that this WAS her party.  So I made the reservation on the spot and called mom after work and told her I was taking her and Joni for tea.

Luckily Grandma, my dad's mom, was able to swing it to be in town during Mom's birthday, so I added her to the reservation later.  Her birthday is in September.  Happy Birthday, Moms!

Joni and Grandma

Mom and I love everything about tea.  The china, the little sandwiches...  Ever since she would play with me with my little tea set when I was little (it was an actual china tea set, just smaller for little hands), tea became the epitome of how a lady should behave in my head.  When I was like 5 or 6, she threw a little tea party for me and my friends and we used her special strawberry tea set.  When I was older, maybe 12 or 13, she took me out for high tea at a fancy hotel while we were vacationing in Canada.  She and my bridesmaids threw me a tea themed bridal shower when Randy and I got married.  We love Alice in Wonderland with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare...  Mary Poppins with the tea party on the ceiling...  Love it!  I could not wait for this tea, and I think she was pretty excited too.

Look at this room.  Can you imagine a more perfect place to have tea with the ladies?

Everything was so good.  We each got our own pot of tea, here is the menu.  All four of us got the chamomile, and it was great.  First they bring out five silver dollar-sized open-faced sandwiches.  There was a cucumber, a turkey and tomato, egg salad, chicken salad and lox.  Then they bring out scones with cream and your own little pot of jam.  The last course was my absolute favorite and you can see it in the picture below:

Lemon mousse pyramids with chocolate on the bottom, blueberry whipped cream boats, vanilla cake with chocolate and raspberry layers, blueberry and raspberry american flags, almond paste cookies dipped in chocolate and my favorite, tiny individual key lime pies.  It was like I had died and gone to heaven.  My brain was on how-do-I-make-this-dessert-at-home overload.

If you ever get a chance to do tea at the Hotel DuPont, DO IT!  The moms loved it so much, they were talking about taking the boys with us for tea at Christmastime.  Oh and do the Valet Parking.  It's worth the money to not have to worry about parking your car, and it makes you feel like you belong there.  ...Even if your car is a mess, like mine always is.

So a funny thing happened on the way home.  We couldn't find 95 N to hop back to Philly, and the GPS on my iPhone chose that moment to stop working.  So it took us a little while to get going, but I made up the time on the highways home.  I had timed it perfectly, getting Mom home actually a little early, when she announced we HAD to stop on the way home for potato salad.  Since I had been a little overzealous with my speed, I conceded and stopped off at Wegmans.  My fatal flaw was letting her go in by herself while Grandma and I sat in the car and called home to let them know our ETA.  20 minutes later, Grandma turned to me and said, "You better go in there and drag her out!"

Mom was at the checkout with a belt full of groceries.  If you're anything like me, you go into the store for one thing, and end up picking up 4 or 5 things you forgot you needed.  If you're like my mom, you go in for one thing and fill your cart!

So we get her in the car and as we're driving home, Mom looks into the back yard and says, "There's a lot of people at our house!"

"No, Mom, that's just our family, the neighbors are having a party."

She believed me!  We pulled into the driveway and she says, "Their music is really loud!  That's not like them."

"I know, isn't it crazy how loud it is?"

I thought for sure we were busted, when I turned around and she was gone.  I was trying to take her through the gate to the backyard for the big surprise, when she disappeared into the house, directly up the stairs.  I called after her and she replied, "I have to go to the bathroom!"

Bryan, Dad, Randy and I sat in the kitchen for 5, 10, then 15 minutes when Randy said, "She's going to come downstairs in her bathing suit, just watch.  She's getting changed."

Well gosh darn it if he wasn't right.  She came down in her suit, and we're all just standing there staring at her, not knowing what to say.  I was the first to speak.

"Mom, do you want me to get you a cover up?"

Randy, Bryan and Mom.  I'd say she was pretty surprised.
 

Randy and his brother, Jason.  Look out, girls!  Jason is single!

Ashley and our little cousin, Katie

Z, D, and Lily

Z, you may remember him from such gems as Wolverine Bakes a Cake 

Ashley, Aunt Donna and awesome Cousin Treva

Bryan and his friend, Kyle.  Kyle is showing off the awesome paper plates I found at the dollar store!

Nan and Aunt Jane.  Nan, Dan and Donna came in a few days early to help and hid at my house.

Mom and Dad's long-time friends from when they were at Penn State

Awww, Lily and John

Kelly, Uncle Dan and Mom

Look, Randy is as good with D's kids as I am

Dad and our neighbor of 30+ years, Joe

Joe and Joanne.  Joanne taught me how to ride a bike.

Our neighbors across the street, they used to babysit me when I was little

Our neighbors through the backyard, who also used to babysit me.  Their son and I were best friends when we were toddlers.

Me and Dad - so relieved the party was pulled off!

Our neighbors to the side

Dad's college roommate and good friend, with his daughter and her boyfriend.  He used to work with D's dad.  Small world, huh?

His sister and very good friend of Mom's and Dad's

Our cousins and Penn State friends and family - Kevin is shielding his head so I don't drop a house on him.  Long story.

Uncle Sean brewed Mom her own special beer!

Cousins of Dad's, long-time friends of Mom and Dad in all the way from Texas!  and Grandma in her cute button shirt

One of our littlest cousins, Matthew

Bryan was in charge of food, and got a hand from Joni and Ashley, and our gourmet chef cousins, Mary and Treva.  We had a spread of the best food imaginable.  But as you know, you can have rockin' food, the most fun location, the best music, but what makes a party are the special people who come.

Thank you everyone for making Mom's birthday party the best one yet!

P.S.  If I didn't put your name down under your picture, it's not because I don't know who you are.  It's because I respect that not everyone is ok with having their name and picture on the internet, and we are so glad you could make it!!!