Jacob's Surprise Party - October 1st

In addition to cleaning up Gilbey Park on Saturday, October 1st, the older youth of CIA met at my house in the early evening hours to travel to Carleton Place to Jacob's house. 

The occasion?  Jacob's 16th Birthday.  His mom had been planning this event for some time now.  I know because I'd been getting emails every other day with questions, or trying to figure out how to keep this a secret from Jacob, etc.  : )  

Here are Chris, David, Jonah, and Alex relaxing in our garage waiting for everyone else to arrive.  

Chris has just obtained his G2 a couple of days earlier, so he was pumped to be driving with his friends in the van.  Being the cautious parent that I am, however, meant that Joycegina was in the passenger seat.  

We arrived at Jacob's home, and the timing couldn't have been better.  He was in the shower, so he didn't hear us come in.  We hunkered down in the basement and waited.  I sat on the couch, in my suit, just to throw him off when he came downstairs.  It worked.  He looked confused, which is not his normal look.  : )  

Jacob was pleasantly surprised, and his mom was relieved to not have to keep this event a secret any longer.  : )  I posted it on Facebook just before we left, knowing Jacob wouldn't be reading about it until afterwards.  For some reason the youth thought I was being insensitive or something...hmmm : ) 

There were strict instructions to not provide gifts for Jacob, but cards seemed to be ok.  Some were pretty funny.  

There was enough food to feed an army.  Lots of good junk food too.  Joycegina and I spent time upstairs visiting with George and Tammy, while the group spent time downstairs.  

I always find it interesting when events like this are held.  If you look back in some of my posts, you'll find a similar event that Fontana planned for Chris and Hannah and some others in the group for their 16th birthdays. 

The beginning is all "surprise"  hype and laughing and joking around, and then things settle down to an awkward calm with the unspoken question of, "So, what do we do next?"  It happens at every youth gathering.  

Well, Fontana seemed to break the ice by doing what she does best.....something weird.  

She then got Rosy involved......

.....and Hannah too.  You can always count on Fontana to keep things moving along.....   :)  

I think the group eventually started a game of charades.  We heard lots of laughter coming from the basement.  

Who's nice foot was that?  The girls don't look to impressed.  

After some time the group came upstairs and decided to go outside, in the dark, in the cold.  We didn't see them for some time.  They returned, and we soon left for the evening, but not without leaving a mess in the basement.  I hope some of them cleaned up before we left......  : ) 

Well Jacob, I'm glad we could surprise you for your belated birthday party.   May you have many more.