A few months ago I found out that Billy Joel was coming to concert in Philadelphia. The timing was perfect as it was the day after Samantha's birthday and a few days before Ian's birthday. Ian has always expressed interest in seeing Billy Joel perform live and with Billy recently turning 70 years old, I wasn't sure how many years left we had to make this happen. Meanwhile, Samantha was dying to go to a concert, any concert. Both kids have grown up listening to Billy's music and is fully aware of all his songs. I am a huge Billy Joel fan (he is my absolute favorite) and Jeff enjoys his music as well. In fact, we've gone to 2 Billy Joel concerts previously together. He puts on a fantastic show.
My idea was to let the kids miss school on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend and head up to Philly. We'd see the concert that evening and spend the night in a nearby hotel. The next morning we'd be able to see my cousin Leslie and her family for breakfast before heading back home. I had a dog sitter lined up for Lucy for the 24 hours we'd be gone and was so excited with the plan that was forming. It was going to be a GREAT surprise and I knew the kids would freak out when we told them.
Jeff and I managed to keep the whole thing a secret until the morning of Sam's birthday. I put together a cute flyer and handed an envelope to each kid for them to open that would tell them all about the gift. "You get to miss school tomorrow!" "We are going to Philadelphia!" "You are going to your first concert!". The Billy Joel ticket was attached. We presented it to them at the same time. I was ready to video record their reactions.
The surprise that I thought was going to be so amazingly well-received by the kids turned out to surprise Jeff and me even more. Ian and Sam's reactions were almost non-existent. They had no reaction. It was strange and I was beyond disappointed. WHAT!?!? It was like they were in shock and couldn't even smile at the news. It was a non-reaction. The first thing that happened was Sam saying she didn't want to miss school the next day. HUH? And then she said, while she wants to go to a concert, she didn't want Billy Joel to be her first one. She said he could be the third concert she goes to. First place position goes to Pink!. Ian, meanwhile, kept apologizing for his non-reaction and said he was looking forward to going. Ugh. Personally, I think this was the absolute last thing either kid expected ever happening. They really had no clue as Jeff & I kept these plans such a secret that there was no chance for them to find anything out. I was so depressed all day on how little the kids reacted favorably to their birthday gift from me and Jeff. It really threw me and I wasn't expecting this to go the way it was.
Every year we let the kids pick what restaurant they want to go to for their birthday. But this year, because of the trip to Philly, we were not going out to dinner and I said I'd make their favorite dish and we'd get cake. I know this disappointed Samantha and she wasn't afraid to let the grandparents know when they called her that day to wish her a happy birthday that basically we were the worst parents in the world for not taking her to her favorite restaurant. What she didn't tell the grandparents or anyone else that called was that we had other awesome plans instead.
Our road trip to Philadelphia was a big success and we stopped in Delaware at our most favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch. Whenever we are driving on I-95 we try to plan it around us being near here for lunch or dinner. It's about 2 hours from our house and each one of us loves this place. It's about 5 minutes off the interstate and brings a smile to our face every time we get to go. Jeff and I found this place very randomly a few years ago after we had dropped the kids off at camp and was driving back home. Since then, we've managed to eat at Border Cafe about a dozen times over the years.
Once we got to Philadelphia, Jeff found us a really cool place to hang out for a few hours before checking in to the hotel. It was a park off of Spruce Street that was a combo street festival and full of hammocks to lounge around in. The hammocks were built for two people. How fun! It was a gorgeous day and so wonderful to be outside soaking in the sunshine.
I had found us a restaurant near the stadium for dinner and with a little luck was able to get a reservation. The restaurant is a big hangout for all the stadiums nearby and this evening was filled wall to wall with Billy Joel concertgoers. The music roaring from the speakers in the restaurant was all Billy Joel music. How cool! The restaurant offered a free shuttle to and from the stadium so you could leave your car parked at the restaurant.
It was shaping up to be a fantastic day and both kids finally came around in wanting to go to the concert.
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