I have always had a hard time surprising Andy. Birthdays, Father’s Day, Valentines Day – he always figures out what I’m getting him. Either he’s too smart for his own good, or I’m just really bad at being sneaky.
It doesn’t help that all our accounts are linked. Bank account, PayPal account, Amazon account – I can’t do anything without him getting a notification email about it, or seeing it in the recent orders on Amazon.
So when I started out a month ago to plan a getaway at a cabin for Andy and I, I knew I’d have to be careful or he would find out. I waited to book the cabin until he was home one day and then deleted the notification email on his phone when it came in. I was careful to arrange babysitting and care for the animals when he was not within hearing distance.
For three whole weeks the secret was kept secret, and I thought finally, at long last I would surprise my husband.
But the week before the cabin Andy’s phone broke down and he used mine. I carefully cleaned out any mention of the getaway in email, text messages, WhatsApp. ‘I can still pull this off!’ I thought.
But I had forgotten that I had the dates blocked off in Google calendar. He checked the calendar for some reason, and there it was. Four days! He found out about it only four days before we left! To his credit, he felt horrible for ruining my surprise yet again.
Oh well. It was still fun, even if he did find out about it when he wasn’t supposed to.
We had a cabin by a lake for two nights. It was the longest we had ever been away from the children since we had our first baby! Gotta plan these things around babies ya know!
It was so refreshing to have space, and quiet, and no interruptions. We went on a walk and cooked together, watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy, played board games, and did a couples questionnaire. One night we dressed up and went out for a fancy dinner.
It’s so valuable to spend time as a couple and just rejuvenate during this hectic season of raising little ones.
It was worth every penny and the stress of getting someone to keep the fire going, care for the animals, and run the generator so the fridge stayed cold. Totally worth it, even if it wasn’t the surprise I wanted it to be.
aww, that’s so sweet! =) I also have a very hard time keeping any secrets from my husband. 😉
Hi there! I’ve been an observer from afar for quite awhile:) love reading about your life in Alaska!! Gives me a real urge to travel:)So glad you got to do that little getaway!! We have 3 littles, the youngest 2 being just over a year apart. My ‘baby’ now is almost 3 so we’ve managed to leave them behind for a night a time or two. As for gifts for the hubby… that’s a lifelong struggle for me I believe lol
Alaska is a beautiful place to visit! 😉
My husband accuses me of being this way. I don’t try to find out–in fact, I try really hard NOT to–but somehow, it seems like I often do. At Christmas he had this idea to trick me about my gift by getting a huge box from his work and putting the kids in there to jump out at me. The day of the surprise, my youngest came to me crying and saying, “I don’t want to get in your present, Mommy! I don’t want to get in it.” I shushed him so fast, but…let’s just say it took the edge off the surprise when a huge wrapped box appeared in the living room. (face palm) Sounds like a fun getaway! Cheers to you for making it happen.
This is so hilarious! Yes, Andy really finds out without trying and he always feels terrible when he does ruin a surprise. I guess I need to try harder to keep it a secret!
Good for you!! I love those little getaways too.