Alaina's Surprise Party: She's 15!

Cabo helped unwrap the phone

Alaina's birthday started with presents in bed and Cabo helping to unwrap.  He could get used to this!  She finally got a new phone.  Her old one broke in June and she was phone and textless all summer.  I think she is feeling good to be reconnected.  About a week before her birthday Alaina created a Facebook message to about 10 friends to invite them to get together at a restaurant for her birthday.  I was already trying to plan a surprise party and luckily had let a few of her friends know what I was working on.  One of those very smart friends texted me to alert me to Alaina's plans (that I knew nothing about!) and I had her create a different Facebook message, excluding Alaina, and I communicated with everyone through that.  I asked them all tell Alaina they were busy Friday but could come on Saturday (so she wouldn't feel bad that no one could come) and I told them secretly to plan on coming Friday.    I told Alaina that Dave and I wanted to take her out for our dinner on her real birthday and she begrudgingly agreed since she was thinking she'd have her own thing on Saturday.

Surprise at the Cheesecake Factory

I got balloons and made a cake and cupcakes that I had someone else bring there.  Then, when it was time to go to the restaurant she really didn't want to be going out with us on her real birthday.  Dave had been out of town and was planning on meeting us there, so he went early and saved a table.  I had 11 girls on the Facebook group and 16 ended up coming, so we had a few extra.  Dave texted me when they were all there and seated and I thought I found a great parking spot (got a ticket later!).  Alaina and I walked in and she didn't see her friends until they all stood up and shouted, "SURPRISE!!!"  It was great!  They really got her.

Beautiful friends, inside and out
After dinner a lot of the girls had to go home because it was already 10pm and they had soccer and early cross country meets on Saturday but Dave and I took 7 girls to the bowling alley and watched them bowl.  They were hilarious!  I think the high score was in the 70's and the low score was in the 30's but they had a blast.  At the end I gave them each a quarter for the machines (that's all I had left after dinner and bowling) and they all bought mustaches.  I love Alaina's friends.  Happy birthday, Awesome Alaina!