Surprise!

With Dave turning 30, I knew I had to do something different. Something big for his birthday. Since I had never done a surprise party for him before, I figured this was a great occasion to do so! As most of you know, pulling off a surprise on Dave is no easy feat. He does what he wants, when he wants. From almost working from home Friday (thanks to his boss for scheduling a last minute big 'must-attend-in-person' meeting) to almost coming home early and ignoring his scavenger cards, to the bakery not having his cake on Friday, and to his chatting it up with a coworker in the parking lot delaying his arrival, it almost didn't work. Luckily, my well-thought out plan to get him to go on a mini-scavenger hunt after work kept him out of the house while the 25-30 guests arrived. The guest list consisted of his coworkers, running/tri buddies, and other local friends and neighbors.

Some of the guests as they yell 'surprise!'

We disabled the garage door so that he would have to go in the front door. We knew he had no clue when he greeted the dogs in his typical (high-pitched voice) fashion-- 'Hi munchkins!'.

Dave's look as he takes in his surprise

The look on his face was priceless as he popped his head from the girls to the dining room to see a room full of guests yelling "SURPRISE!" He truly was very, very surprised and appreciative of the effort involved in throwing him this party.

Singing happy birthday to the 30 year old!

People gave him a hard time about turning 30 as he blew out his candles (and struggled to do so!). Many other guests arrived later in the evening and we had a good time chatting, teasing, and eating food. And judging by the huge bucket of empty beer bottles in my kitchen the next morning, I think everyone had a good time!

Cake #2 from Coldstone (served as one of the scavenger diversions!)

Note: Big Thanks to all those who helped pull this off. And a thanks to Charity and Daniel for taking and supplying all these pictures!