How Long Can We Keep This a Secret

Shortly after I made my summer plans to travel to Evansville, my friend Kari made plans to meet up with us there. She lives in our old town and it had been almost a year since we had seen her and her girls.

When we started planning when to meet, we decided it would be extremely fun to keep it a secret from our children. That was slightly more challenging for her since she had to travel about five hours with two children who had no idea where they were going.

Chik-Fil-A was the predetermined meeting place. Kari arrived several minutes before the kids and I did. She took her girls to the restroom and discussed at length the menu and play area. I'm sure her girls thought she had lost her mind. They just wanted to get back in the car and reach the mystery destination. Once she saw my car pull in, she faked a headache and told the girls she needed to get some medicine out of the car before ordering lunch.

I opened the door and Rachel walked through. Cassidy noticed her first. She squealed Rachel's name and then Rachel squealed Cassidy's name. MacKenzie's little face went blank as she looked around the corner of the door. I could see she was thinking, "If Rachel is here, Hannah can't be far behind." There was so much excitement in that little foyer.

The girls picked up where they left off. I couldn't believe Kari and I pulled it off.

We had lunch and then headed back to my dad's house to visit. That afternoon the girls helped set up tents for an evening camp out.

The fun of the camp out ended with setting up the tents. The girls all ended up inside before they even fell asleep.

We all took in an Otter's baseball game. The Otters play at Bosse field which is where part of the movie A League of Their Own was filmed. Some of us watched more of the game than others.

Some of us even ate more of our dinner than others...special attention to Hannah sound asleep with the majority of her dinner in her lap. The excitement of a surprise reunion must have been way more than she could handle.

Kari and Me

Two of my nieces, Lydia and Bethanie, and MacKenzie in the corner.

What could be better in the thick southern Indiana humidity?

The next day I took Kari and the girls on a tour of my old stomping ground and we created as many new memories as we could in the short time we had together.

Before we new it the overnight reunion was over and it was time for last hugs.

Then they were off.