Those of you who know me well know that I LOVE surprising people, especially my husband! I've planned surprise romantic getaways for us in the past and every time I surprise him he says that he could never pull that off (which makes this even more impressive as it never sounded like he'd attempt such a thing. Yet he not only did attempt it, he succeeded in a bigger surprise then I would have ever guessed!)

Let's start from the beginning. Each summer Jason and I take off the week of the 4th of July. We normally take our fam for a week long vacation in South Dakota or head to Lake Okoboji for some camping and beach time together. This summer, after spending much on home improvements, we decided to forego a big week long family vacation and set aside a smaller budget for just doing some things with the family around here. Well, being "surprise minded" I thought here is my big chance! You see, Jason had said that he wanted to take at least one motorcycle trip just the two of us this summer. I thought here's my big opportunity to surprise him with a mini vaca for just the two of us for a day or two! Our absolute favorite Romantic Getaway, Chateau Avalon in Kansas City, Kansas has much better rates Sunday through Thursday and we go to the same church as my wonderful in-laws who always jump at the chance to keep our girls, sooo... I thought I'll book a trip to Chateau Avalon and ask if Jason's parents will take our girls home from church with them that Sunday and we'll take the motorcycle and have a really refreshing day or two together! (A MUCH NEEDED getaway may I add after TONS of work on nearly every last inch of our home for the past several months!) I asked my mother in law if she'd like to have the girls and she was very excited about it! Then, to my dismay a snag in my plot arose. Jason said he may work on Monday the 30th. Hmm... how would this work?! I talked to Lou Ann (my oh so sweet mother in law) and we agreed the best thing to do, although I LOVE surprising Jason was to tell him about the plan, after all if he did work that Monday and we'd be out a lot of money if I were to go ahead and make the reservations,ect. So I did and he completely fooled me and turned the tables in a way I'd NEVER guess!!! I told him that I found the best deal! 1/2 off a room at Chateau Avalon for only $120 through expedia! (This is for a GORGEOUS themed jacuzzi suite in a very romantic hotel! When you enter your room they have the lights dimmed, soft music playing, a bottle of Sparkling Apple Cider chilling with two champagne glasses near the jacuzzi and complimentary breakfast ~ a cold beverage, hot beverage, entree for each of you and the most delicious cinnamon roll for two all delivered to your door at the time you choose! Yeah it's worth $120 and then some NO DOUBT!) So Jason looks at me and actually replies telling me what an awful idea that is after all the money we've spent on the house and how we can't afford a trip,ect.. I was literally almost in tears after walking away. After all I was trying to plan something nice for him! Later that day he said he was sorry he reacted that way but we just didn't have the money right now,ect.. His mom later filled me in that he told her he laid it on really thick so I wouldn't suspect anything when he stole my own idea to use to surprise me (lol!)

The closer the days on the calendar moved to our vaca week he began telling me that his work may be needing him to go to their Kansas City branch to help with some things on Monday, June 30th. At first I was really bummed out as this was supposed to be our family vacation time but then thought "wait a minute this could end up being a free mini getaway!" I asked Jason if the girls and I would be able to join him since I wouldn't be working and we could all be put up in the hotel by the company and then do some things around the KC area (we love it there, so much to do!) Jason later said they did for sure need him and that he talked to his boss and he said it'd be fine to bring us along on the trip, but he wanted to wait to tell the girls and surprise them :o)

So the morning of Sunday the 29th arrived and after church Jason asked, "should we tell the girls where we're going now?" I agreed and then heard the full plan "girls you are going home with Grandma and Grandpa and your mommy and I are going to Kansas City!" I immediately asked, "Do you really have to work though?" He said he did but that it was just going to be for a little bit in the morning and then we'd be free to do some stuff. His mom sold me on the story saying "Yes, he really does have to work but hopefully you guys can still have a good time while you're there." We hopped in the car and I began asking more questions, "Are we really staying at Holiday Inn (the place his work normally has him stay while there on business)?" He said yes, yet I was fine with the whole situation because let's face it I am always thrilled to enjoy one on one time with my amazing husband!!

We had a really great trip out there and couldn't believe it'd been several hours in the car without any whining whatsoever, no "are we there yet"s, nothing... oh yeah it was just the two of us and work or no work this was going to be a great mini trip! The closer we got to KC the further I realized we were from Holiday Inn... you see we were in KC, Kansas now not KC, MO and I recognized just exactly where we were headed ~ Chateau Avalon!!! I was BEYOND DELIGHTED!!!!!! I told Jason I knew exactly where we were heading at that point and thanked him so much for planning this wonderful surprise!! He still insisted he had to work but he began telling me about how he didn't have to be there until 9am so we wouldn't have to get up too early, and oh yeah it's about a half an hour from the hotel being that work is in KC, MO so I'd have to come along with him there but he said he'd just need to be there for a couple hours tops helping w/ stuff at work and I could wait in the car and read (I do love to read but I began thinking a couple of hours in the car in the heat! Is he serious?! ...yet not one complaint was gonna fly out of my mouth I was just so pleased that he'd went to all of this trouble to plan a surprise for me! LOL!)

As soon as we checked in to the hotel and got to our room we had the Renaissance Suite (the suite I actually surprised him with our very first stay celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary nearly 3 years ago! The other suites we've stayed in and enjoyed there were the Colorado Frontier and the Roman Dynasty ... they're all gorgeous rooms! Love that place, it's no doubt our favorite romantic retreat!) Anyways, as soon as we got in the room Jason said maybe we should go get some dinner. I was still very full from the lunch that we eat in the car right after church as we started off to KC so I had no idea why he'd be in such a hurry but when I told him I wasn't really up for dinner yet he suggested we go to Legends (a nearby area of shops, restaurants, and a nice movie theater,ect.) and just do some walking around out there. Once we got out of the car I asked Jas what he'd like to do the next day when he got done with work. He asked what I'd like to do. I suggested maybe going to Worlds of Fun or Oceans of Fun or maybe catching a matinee of "Get Smart" ... he replied, "or we could just go to the 5:05 showing of it because that's why we're here!" lol :) He knew I wanted to see that so he'd checked the schedule and planned our day just right to where we arrived at the theater just 10 minutes before showtime!! We had a few laughs and then headed around the corner to one of our fav restaurants Outback Steakhouse. Over some delicious cheesey fries he asked, "Would you like another surprise since you keep guessing everything we're going to do before we do it?" I enthusiastically nodded and begged to hear more (lol) He didn't have to work, he just had to go to the KC branch to pick up a package -> Worlds of Fun tickets (he gets discounted ones through work) HOW FUN!!!! I was then really excited first of all that I didn't have to wait for him in a hot car and second of all that we had another really fun day ahead of us!!

The next morning after a fantastic breakfast in bed I began to pack. Jason returned back to the room and handed me a receipt and asked "Does everything look right on here?" I said "WOW!! How did you ever get this room for $99!" I then scanned the page and noticed it had Monday's date on it! He'd went down to the front desk and got us an additional night's stay ~ surprise!! ...better yet he got the deal of the decade! Only $99! He asked the girl at the front desk if they gave discounts for a second night's stay (the night before I'd mentioned that in the future we should look into that as I'd seen on their website 50% off second nights) She said yes she could honor that discount and give us 50% off but then told him it'd actually be the same price ($120) as we'd paid for the first night's stay as we got such a deal through expedia! He must be spending too much time with me because looking for a real deal he asked if she would take $99 (lol!) They agreed (woohoo!) It was WONDERFUL!!! We enjoyed perfect weather and a really fun day together at Worlds of Fun... the highlight for me was sitting in the very front of the Mamba (205 foot drop @ 75mph!) It was exhilarating!! After the big day at the park it was so nice to come back to the hotel hop in the jacuzzi and veg!

I'm so thankful that my husband put so much thought into creating a memorable weekend for the two of us! It was romantic and refreshing and I look forward to another in the future *hint hint* lol :)