aunt susie's milestone birthday

Susie, me and Dad at Andina's in Portland

Surprise!

Susie's Cube

Playing with Grandpa at Avery Park

Aunt Susie had a milestone birthday at the beginning of October.  Dad called me late this summer and asked what the plans were, but we had yet to come up with any.  He said- whatever we do we need to blow her mind.  With that objective, Dad, Todd and I batted around a few ideas.  We ultimately ended up with a 3 stage event.

Stage 1: Aunt Susie and I planned a girls day to Portland the Saturday before her birthday.  After a fun lunch we ended up at Nordstroms downtown, at the customer service desk asking for "Georgina," our personal shopper.  Dad called from the back room "I can help" in a pretty funny falsetto and came out to surprise Susie.  Susie nearly passed out.  We spent the next four hours in a dressing room, with our actual personal shopper, and Susie got a new Dad-funded wardrobe.  We had dinner downtown at a fantastic place in the Pearl district and brought Dad back to Corvallis for a week of birthday fun.

Stage 2: We had Susie's colleagues decorate her cube for her birthday. The results were posters all over the site, and her cube was full of boxes, such that it wasn't obvious how to get in.  After visiting her office, Dad and Susie spent the rest of the day at the Oregon Gardens.

Stage 3: We figured by this point Susie would be relaxed and not expecting much more. Todd told her that he found a new restaurant, they dropped Laurel off with us and headed out.  We hopped in the car and just barely beat them to Gathering Together Farms, where 20 or so of us surprised Susie with a dinner party.  The Delos-Reyes, the Stokes, the Muhly's, and a bunch of families from the neighborhood were able to make it and we all enjoyed a gluten-free, lactose-free, nightshade-free 3 course dinner.

We got to spend the rest of the week enjoying mostly rain-free warm fall weather and Grandpa's company.  We took a trip to the Evergreen Aviation Waterpark in McMinville, an indoor waterpark, where the large waterslides come out the side of a 747 parked on the roof of the building.  Everyone had a great time.  We spend one afternoon at Avery Park, exploring all the playgrounds.  We had a fun week and ushered Susie into a new decade in style!