the BEST surprise EVER

Nicki lived in Costa Rica for 10 months (Aug '11 - June '12) and it was time for her to come home!!!!

Her original return date was June 9th but she had the brilliant plan of coming home early on June 1st...which is my Mom's birthday.

SO, naturally, this would be a surprise.

Let the planning begin!

We talked a lot and threw around ideas if how to surprise my mom with Nicki's arrival.

Our final decision was to just have a birthday dinner at my parent's house. This was a totally predictable, normal evening for the Raimondo's.

the pool, grand kids and BBQ...PERFECT!  

Nicki kept in contact with me during the day so that my mom wouldn't accidentally see Dad or Gina's phones. This was KILLING my dad. He was so nervous and excited about all of this planning finally coming to an end and, most importantly, getting Nicki home safely!

There was a little bump in our plans because my Principal's retirement party was also on the 1st from 6-8 PM...seriously...WORST TIMING EVER.

Even so, everything worked out PERFECTLY!

When Nicki was about 5 minute away, she text me to let me know, then she text Mom if she wanted to face time.

This is also a very natural occurrence during a Raimondo family gathering. Nicki always wants to "see the spread" and say HI to everyone all at the same time.

I wanted to get EVERYTHING on video so I was wondering how to do this without Mom knowing something was up. I take a lot of pictures and home video so the fact that my cameras were sitting out was no big deal.

It just so happened that the kids were already finished eating and they were getting down from the table while all the "last minute convos" were going on.

Again...everything was going GREAT!

Except that Gina and I were on the edge of our seats and being a little "quiet".

Nicki called on face time and I was able to video tape the whole conversation! PRICELESS!

She and Andres were parked in front of my parents house and she told Mom

"I have a birthday present for you and I have to show you now."

As she was talking, she turned the video feed to show the front of the house!!!!

My mom instantly knew what was happening and said "Oh My God" and started crying!

The next 10 minutes were full of hugs, kisses and tears.

My family is NOT one for surprises so the fact that we pulled this off, was a miracle!

We explained all of the planning conversations, nervous feelings and secrets that were spinning around for the last month and my mom just couldn't believe we made this all work.

I'm sure it had to do with the fact we didn't tell Colin either...HA! A 6 year old CAN'T keep a secret...

The rest of the evening was spent celebrating Mom's birthday and basking in the laughter that is a

Raimondo Family Dinner!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MOST AMAZING WOMAN I KNOW!

WE LOVE YOU MOM!!!!!!!!



the little mermaid

Last week Ava, Mommy, Aunt Gina and Nana

went to see The Little Mermaid Jr at

the Miller Outdoor Theatre.

My favorite Disney princess is Ariel and I have slightly pushed Ava to love her too. :)

Ava's eyes were glued to the stage! We have watched The Little Mermaid a lot so she knows the songs and her favorite is Under the Sea.

During the play she was pointing at the stage, telling us to "look at Ariel" and "watch! watch!".  

During the scene when Ursala is attacking the ship and trying to win Price Eric, Ava was YELLING and SCREAMING at the stage and telling Ariel to "watch out" and "MOVE!!!".

We brought food and supplies to have a picnic but it was just too hot.

We drove down the street and ate our lunch at Aunt Gi Gi's apartment.

 

It was CRAZY hot and Hermann park was super crowded but we had a fun time spending the morning together!
We are planning on going to see Pinocchio in July. :)

Sunday Summer Schlangen Showdown {1st annual}

Hello Summer!!!!

To kick-off the summer vacation, Susanna planned an AMAZING summer bash for the kids!

We had delicious BBQ, sides, mojitos, and WATER BALLOONS!

The kids had a blast playing all of the water games.

1). Pop-Relay: They had to take turns and run to the X and sit on the water balloon to pop it.

2). water balloon toss

3). wet-sponge basketball

4). balloon balance

5). fill the bucket

there was alittle too much water being tossed around....

6). obstacle course....the kids had to spin around a bat a few time before they could run the course. You'll see in a few pictures below how far Colin made it...

Prizes for a job well-done!

Colin was "directing the airplanes".

We are looking forward to this new summer tradition continuing for YEARS to come!