Making a big splash

Sometime in April, my daughter-in-law Becca came up with the idea of throwing a surprise birthday party for my son Jake on the occasion of his 29th birthday, figuring he would be expecting something for his big 3-0, which, of course, he would. She thought a luau would be fun. Thus began the months of planning that culminated in a genuinely surprised Jake last Saturday- two days in advance of his actual birthday.

The short planning stage segued into the first of several trips to party stores. We bought grass skirts and leis and garlands and bracelet leis. We bought Hawaiian shirts for the guys. We bought tiki heads, and a tiki pinata. We bought luau themed napkins, cups, plates, bowls, platters, and even a grass skirt for the table. We had inflatable palm trees and inflatable monkeys. We bought three tiki torches. We had inflatable coolers for beer and soft drinks. My best bud Marcia stored all this in her home office for us, but the shopping that continued sporadically ended up under my bed. My side was soon taller than Dave's.

Speaking of Dave- my beloved husband took a week's vacation to get the front yard and the pool area looking good for the party. He re-stained the patio set, and cleaned out gardens, and hung hanging baskets; he moved storage lockers, and mowed and weed-eated, all in 95+ heat. What a mensch.

Becca and I made the invitations and got them mailed. We experimented with cakes... five different cakes...I am thoroughly sick of cake, by the way... and finally managed one that looked like a hula dancer, coconut bra and all, and one that passed for a volcano.

Saturday morning, Becca came over with her sister Abigail and my pixie granddaughter Delaney and we cleaned off the front porch and decorated the back yard. We floated an inflatable lobster in the pool, and after several hours in sweltering heat beneath the threat of rain, we all joined it in the pool to cool off.

We'd recruited a friend in the neighborhood to let people park at his house so it would look like HE was having a party. At six o'clock, guests began to arrive. At about 6:30, Jake, Becca and the four girls arrived, hard on the heels of the Prossers, who got here a little late. We manuevered Jake through the house and into the back yard through the closed curtain. Everyone yelled "SURPRISE" and Jake was genuinely surprised!

It was a great party. There were 26 people here, about half of which Jake eventually chucked into the pool; he got chucked in himself several times. With the music of steel drums in the background, we chowed down on hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecued beans and all the acoutrements that go with them. The cakes were a hit. The girls donned their hula skirts and danced for their daddy, and THEY were a hit. About 10:30, we were driven indoors by the mosquitos, but until then, the party was a smash. Everyone helped drag in the food and drink and Jake's numerous gifts, one of which was a scrapbook album of his life that I have been working on for months. I'm proud of it, and think it is a work of art as well as an act of love.

We were all exhausted the next day. Poor, tired Dave left for San Diego. Mama and I went to church and then met Jake and his brood at the Cracker Barrel in Manchester where we had lunch together, and where Mama purchased white rockers for the front porch for mine and Dave's 37th anniversary (August 10). Jake loaded them into his truck and we got the porch set up so pretty... and then we all (except Mama) jumped in the pool. Baby Emily hung out with me in the shallow end while everyone else competed to see who could make the biggest splash. Poor Delaney was at a disadvantage being so little, but Haley and Kendall made decent waves which washed up to Emily and I, to our mutual delight. Becca and Jake made tidal waves, and the baby and I REALLY loved those.

As refreshing and relaxing as the swim was, it was the icing on the exhaustion cake. Damn, we're back to cake again. After the Lapczynski Traveling Circus left for Manchester (Jake as ringmaster, Becca as band leader, Delaney the high flying trapeze artist, Haley the clown, Kendall the lady on horseback and Emily the lion tamer), Mama and I collapsed on the couch. We vegged amid the detritus of a pretty spectacular birthday for the rest of the day, too tired to clean, tidy or generally move.

It was worth it. Jake has been feeling pretty under-appreciated lately. I think he's over it now.