The Cole's: Little Rock Weekend

My best friend from high school, Shannon, turned 30 on April 24th. Her husband, Clay, had contacted me about a surprise birthday party that he was going to throw for her. He had it all planned out! This is how the weekend went...

On Friday, the 24th, Dan and I dropped the kids off in Harrison with Dan's parents and then drove to Little Rock. We stayed with Dan's friend from his high school, David, and his wife Jodi that night. We went to small mexican restaurant that night and then went to their house and sat by their patio fire pit for the rest of the evening catching up on life. On Saturday, Dan and I slept in a bit. David had cooked waffles and sausage for breakfast so we all ate together and then Dan and I drove around Little Rock so I could reminisce on my childhood since that is where I grew up. We drove by all my old schools and the neighborhood that I used to live in (Patricia...your house doesn't even look the same...grass grown up in front of it and weeds as tall as me with junk in the yard...sad!!). Then Dan and I went to capitol to take some pictures, then we stopped at Backyard Burgers and sat in the sun and had lunch together. We quickly went back to David and Jodi's house to change and get ready for the night.

Clay wanted us to meet two other couples at their church parking lot (in Benton) and wait for a Limo to come and get us. This was my very first time to be in a Limo and it was SO much fun! The Limo came and picked us all up and then we went to Shannon and Clay's house to get them. Clay of course knew about the Limo but Shannon had NO idea and she had no idea that Dan and I were in town either. She was so surprised to see the Limo parked out front, she got in and did a double take when she saw Dan and I! She was shocked! She said she knew something was up but had no idea was going to be that extreme!

We then went to Little Rock to eat at Gaucho's Brazilian Steakhouse which is Shannon's favorite restaurant. We had dinner, drinks and dessert there and then we had the Limo for another 3 hours. We went by Dickey-Stephens Ballpark, the River Market and The Clinton Library. We of course had to use the bathroom along the way so we stopped at Wendy's to have a bathroom break and we also went to the liquor store...I'm sure we looked odd coming out of a Limo at those places!

The Limo dropped us off at the church parking lot and we drove the two short blocks to Shannon and Clay's house. Greg and Amber (one of the couples we were with pictured below) live in the same neighborhood as Clay and Shannon so they came over and we played Loaded Questions...Adult Version...wow that got interesting...remember the liquor store stop?? We played until nearly 2:00 a.m. knowing that we would have to get up at 7:45 to be at church by 9:15...Clay teaches Sunday school and Amber had to sing on Praise Team. Good thing we don't do that often...well, never actually, but it was fun!

So we went to church Sunday morning. Clay had another surprise waiting for Shannon that she had no clue about. He planned a luncheon for friends and family to come and celebrate her turning 30. He had Backyard Burgers catered in and they had a huge birthday cake as well. When we all got home from church we changed clothes and only had about 45 minutes until Dan and I had to be back to the church to yell "surprise" for Shannon. We played Wii with Shannon and Clay during that time and then right at 12:30, Dan and I both said that we need to get going. Shannon thought that it was kinda odd that we weren't staying for a bite to eat at her mom's house (that's where she thought she was going) but playing Wii instead but she didn't verbalize that until later!

Dan and I quickly got our stuff in the van, said our goodbyes to Shannon and Clay and then pretended to drive home. As we were pulling in the parking lot at the church, Amber was motioning for us to come in quickly that Shannon and Clay were on their way. We rushed inside and shortly after, they walked through the fellowship hall doors. We all yelled "SURPRISE!" and once again she was completely shocked. All of her close friends and family was there and she was glad that we had stayed!

We had a great weekend! It was good to get out of the norm for a bit...it was almost like being in college again!

Shannon and I in the Limo.