Surprise!

WELL, WE DID it again; we managed to sneak a set of grandparents over to France without our kids knowing, leading to this afternoon's big Surprise.

We've done this before (proof is here, here, and here) but this time might have been the best. When Kerri's parents arrived the twins were still in school so there was time to 'set up.' Since we talk to Kerri's parents quite often on Skype, her dad thought it would be great to set up his laptop in the guest bedroom downstairs and Skype call us when the kids go home from school. It would seem like an ordinary day.

All went well. The Skype call was in session about 1 minute after every got home. But it didn't take long before Patrick and Julia began squinting at the screen trying to figure out where 'Pop Pop' and 'GiGi' were; the background didn't look like their house yet it seemed vaguely familiar. Finally, after a couple of 'where are you' questions, Patrick shreiked, 'Oh my gosh' and ran downstairs -- Julia right on his heels.

We asked what tipped them off and it was a painter/poster that we have haning in the guest room. They finally realized that Pop Pop and GiGi didn't have that poster anywhere in their house -- the only one was in our house. Downstairs.

It's great to be around family at Christmas. Last year we were back in DC with the whole extended family. Two years ago my mom and brother came to share our first Christmas away from 'home.' This year it Kerri's parents who are here and we're looking forward to a great few weeks.