Sshhh! It's a Surprise!

Hey, Friends.

So, my niece and nephew are here visiting for the summer.  My brother was here for a week as well, but he has already made the return journey back to Texas.  Now it's time for fun and adventures with his kiddos.

Every summer my mother and I try to take the kids on a trip of some sort.  Last year we went to The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, Great Wolf Lodge, and America's Stonehenge.

You may recall past trips have not always gone so smoothly.  Take our trip to Hershey Park, for example: started out awesome, but then there was a tornado and it turned into a hot mess.  Don't remember that bit of fun?  You can read about it right here!

I also like to try and surprise the kids with something.  Last summer I took my niece to see and meet Heffron Drive, and to go see Taylor Swift.  My nephew got to go crazy and bounce his heart out at an indoor trampoline center.

This year's trip begins in a couple hours, and the kidlets have no idea where they are going.  It's a total surprise.  Oh, they know we are taking them someplace today -- they just don't know where, or how.  No details whatsoever.

I feel like I can spill the beans to you at this point, Friends.  Yes, my niece could potentially see this and the surprise could be ruined but......

Honestly?  She is not going to drag her ass out of bed any earlier than she needs to, and I highly doubt her first coherent thought is going to be to check here to see if I shared the news.  I'm willing to roll the dice at this point.  She is too much like me: night person.  I hate getting up early in the morning.  I know there are people who can just wake up at the same time each morning without a problem, but that is not me.  If I don't set an alarm for work every day then that is just not going to happen -- I will sleep right on through.

Back to my point.

The surprise this year?  My mother and I are taking the kids to Washington D.C. for the weekend. On the train!  Extra bonus fun?  My nephew has never been on a train before.  This is going to be awesome!

We started laying the groundwork already.  Dropping subtle hints in a way.  They'll figure it out after the fact, I'm sure.

Sunday night my mother showed them National Treasure.  Monday night I showed them Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.  I really thought they would question why we were watching the second movie of that series and not any of the others, but they didn't.

My original plan was to show them the movie Monday evening while we were hanging out, and then I would tell them about the trip.  They could freak out and get excited, started Googling things about D.C., etc.  When I told my brother about the plan, he suggested something a little different.  It's only a tiny bit evil, and that's the plan I went with.

We didn't tell them anything.  They just know they are going somewhere.  Some place out of New York State.  And it required packing a suitcase.

It's driving them insane!  Like my niece has been harassing my brother via text message to try to get him to tell her since my mother and I won't.  My father has been making up stories and trying to convince them that we are taking them to Niagara Falls -- I don't know why he chose that location, but he has been rolling with it.

So this morning we will be getting on the train, and even then we aren't telling them where they are going.  And it will still be a surprise for a bit longer.

How, you might be wondering?  Won't they make an announcement on the train about the destination?

Yes, Friends, I'm sure they will. I thought about that.

You see, the first train we take just goes to Penn Station.  If the kidlets are awake enough and paying attention they will think they are going to New York City.  They will probably assume that it is their final destination.  With any kind of luck they will not figure it out until we get on the train at Penn Station and head to Washington.

And then their brains will probably explode, and they will start asking about what we are going to see, will we see the stuff from the movies, etc.  That's how they roll.  My nephew will be excited and asking a million questions, and my niece will be Snapchatting  and Instagraming (are they words? They are now!) the whole experience for all of her friends back in Texas.  She's the social media queen.

TTFN, Friends.  I've got to finish getting my act together for our imminent departure.  If you're just dying to know how this all plays out, you can follow along on our adventure via Twitter.  I'm @tammyshampoo and I will be updating there.