Lisa: I remember that we had the birthday of all birthdays with 10 surprises. We planned that party the weekend before her actual birthday. How else could we pull off such a surprise for an inquisitive, intelligent little girl who wondered what her celebration would be? Sam actually unbeknownst to her played a part in the planning. Jon rented a van and we had a surprise sleepover that started with a night with friend Layton. We then blindfolded Sam and took her to a place where other girls were waiting with sleeping bags in tow to spend the night in tents, with disco ball, music, and a night of no sleep, among other surprises. Surely no birthday could top this night.

Sam:  The surprises

1. The surprise party itself (my party was supposed to be the following weekend)
2. The honk-if-you-want-to-wish-Sam-a-happy-birthday, 12-passenger van
3. I was blindfolded and surprised when I arrived in the St. Catherine’s parking lot with all of my friends waiting for me
4. Our backyard set up with three camping tents and one pavilion tent as the common area for the overnight
5. Costco pizza for dinner (which I loved!)
6. A variety of games (guess the number of Skittles in the jar, etc.)
7. A scavenger hunt in Ukrops (now Martins)
8. The winning team got a “shopping spree” at Barnes and Noble (my favorite store). Yellow Neptune won (because we were beasts), and I bought an A*Teens CD and we choreographed a dance to “Bouncing Off the Ceiling” all night long under a disco ball
9. A telescope to see the stars
10. Made-to-order breakfast in the morning by mom