Nice Little Surprise

Sometimes life throws little surprises my way that turn out to be pretty good. Even if they aren't necessarily for me.

I thought the highlight of my day was finally getting the way cool running shirt I earned for putting 350 miles on during the winter for the Frost Bite challenge. The shirt was well worth the effort (I can say that now), but something even better occurred...

I later got a free Mint Oreo Blizzard! But even that wasn't it...

Some friends of ours near Iola have been planning a spring break trip out East with their 12-year-old son --who has become a friend of Carter's over the past several summers at Kidz Camp. This morning, 3 days before they are set to hit the road, they had the idea (and a good one, at that) that perhaps it would be a more enjoyable trip for their son if he could have another sixth-grade boy with him. And why not Carter?

Why not, indeed? We certainly didn't hesitate to say yes on Carter's behalf. This would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Washington, D.C., some of the historic sites around Jamestown and Williamsburg, Va., not to mention all of the states he'll get to travel through while NOT asking "Are we there yet?" -- or he'll never get to do anything again!

I can attest to Carter's excitement about this. We told him 3 hours ago and he hasn't stopped smiling yet! He is trying to do homework but keeps stopping and saying things like, "I can't believe next week at this time I will be in our nation's capitol!"

I made a similar road trip with my parents nearly 20 years ago. So I dragged out the photo album and he called Grandma and Grandpa to tell them the news. They are partly disappointed because Carter was going to be spending a few days with them next week (before this all went down), but mostly very, very excited about his opportunity. We all are!

Naturally, hubby and I are checking the forecast because we will be child-free for 8 days and could golf at will -- or do whatever we want. Oh wait, this surprise isn't about us, is it??