I did a hybrid approach for one of our trips. I told my oldest DD (she was just shy of 5) that we were going to do a daddy/daughter trip to Disney for her birthday, so she knew we were going. But I actually took her a week earlier than she was expecting and I made her think we were going golfing that morning. Here's a snippet from my soon-to-be trip report...
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As you’ve probably guessed from some of the hints I’ve dropped, this trip was not going to be a total surprise trip for Kat. However, she didn’t know WHEN we were going on the trip. I had actually told her we wouldn’t be going for another week, so the night before we left, she had no idea she was only a short eight hours from leaving for the happiest place on earth!
We had a 7:40 am flight, so I had everything packed and ready to go by midnight before I settled in for a quick four hour nap. Phone alarm went off far too early…but Disney traveling day has a way of getting the juices flowing and after a quick shower, I was ready to go! I got the car all packed up and then went upstairs to wake Kat up.
I slipped into her room and quietly got her up and out of bed without waking DD2. In order to keep the ruse going, I told Kat that I was taking her golfing with me.
We were out of the house by about 5:00 am. Of course, it was lightly raining outside – but it was too early in the morning for her to start questioning things. Plus she’s knows I’m crazy enough to golf in all kinds of conditions.
We made our customary pit stop at the neighborhood kolache place and started out for the airport…I mean golf course. About halfway there, Kat started questioning why we were heading to golf while it was still dark outside. I guess the kolache got her mind to start firing on all cylinders?
I mentioned to her that we were golfing so early so that we could be done early and then be able to do more fun things later. But with the rain picking up, along with her mental faculties catching up, I shifted the topic a little and mentioned that the rain might prevent us from golfing and so we might need a backup plan.
Kat sighed and said, “let’s just go home then.”
Me: “You don’t want to do something else? Surely we can do something fun.”
Kat: “let’s just watch a movie at home.”
Me: “well. If you could do anything, what would you want to do?”
Kat: “Go home and watch a movie.”
Me: “Really? If you could ANYTHING???”
Kat: “well. I’d like to go vacation…but that’s next week. So we can’t go right now.”
<hahaha. Now I got her where I want her>
Me: “Hey…You know what? That sounds like fun. What do you say we head there right now???”
Kat: “WHAT??? Are you serious? What about our bags?”
Me: “Yep!!! We’re heading to the airport right now. They’re in the back of the trunk. We weren’t ever going golfing!!! I hope you’re not mad at daddy for playing a trick on you.”
Kat: [After a high pitched squeal] “Playing tricks on people isn’t nice. But I’m not mad at you, daddy.”
Drive to the airport was uneventful, which is a good thing. I could barely contain my excitement with the anticipation of all the fun we’d have together. I’d been looking forward to this trip for over a year, and now that it had finally started, I had to fight back the happy tears while driving through the rain.
After we got to the park and ride, I finally got Kat changed into her Disney outfit (she was still in her PJs). I then continued the surprises with a Lady plush doll! I’m such a sucker.
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