Over the weekend Jessica and I traveled across the country to mess with my parents and attend Grant and Sheena’s wedding. The second part of that sentence probably made sense but the first part should have you asking questions – let me divulge the details.
We’ve been planning on attending their wedding for more than six months but I thought it would be hilarious if I could surprise my parents by simply “running into them.” My sister and I were in cahoots on the operation and I think it was an overwhelming success. Weeks ago my sister found out that my parents were planning on going to the state fair. She coerced them into changing their plans so that she could “go with them.” Little did they know that I was planning on meeting them there. Through a series of text messages we coordinated the surprise. I knew that they were planning on parking at SE Polk H.S. so we arrived early and sat waiting in ambush. There was a shuttle bus that provided easy transport to and from the fair for only a few dollars. We ended up parking in the same row and as they walked by I stepped out and said “hey, what are you doing here?”
Watching shock, confusion, and realization on someones face is quite a bit of fun. I found out later that my dad thought someone called him old man and he didn’t recognize the voice – when he saw me he really didn’t know what to say. In fact, it took him an entire bus ride to the fair before he could comprehend the whole thing. The weather wasn’t cooperating with us on our trip and we ended up leaving during the middle of a rain shower in the early afternoon. Jessica, a lifelong Washington resident, was the only one that really appreciated the rain.
Rain shower at the Iowa state fair
My parents headed home for the day and Jessica and I drove around Des Moines for a bit looking for something to do. A while later the rain cleared up and we decided to head back to the fair. We hadn’t thought about returning to the fair so we had forgot about getting wrist stamps. I had to sweet talk the ladies at the gate when I showed them our ticket stubs and they relented and let us back in. We stopped at the petting zoo on our way through the gate after getting some chocolate covered bacon. If you like chocolate and you like bacon you’ll love the combination.
I didn’t want to go to the petting zoo because it meant facing my fears. Many years ago… lets say about 16 years ago, I started my visit to the fair by walking through the petting zoo. All sorts of animals were inside and all was glorious and wonderful. That is, until I met the llama. I started to pet the llama and it decided to thank me by sneezing (or spitting) all over me. Lets say that I wasn’t a fan llamas from this point on.
I had to face my fears this time around…. damn llamas.
Damn llamas
Jessica stopped a few places to grab food on a stick (there are over 50 types) while on our way to a hall full of merchants.
Mmm.. food on a stick
As soon as we walked though the door I saw someone I recognized – granny. For those not in the know, I am the only person on the planet that calls her granny. I point her out to Jessica and tell her to watch this. I yell out “Hey granny!” and spent the next minute laughing at her reaction. This was one of the few rare instances in the history of her life where she had nothing to say. I thought she had actually unhinged her jaw because it nearly hit the floor. After she recovered enough to speak the first words out of her mouth to Jessica were “let me see the ring.” We all laughed. I love that lady.
The wedding, the primary focus of the trip, was fantastic as I got to see many friends I hadn’t seen in years. It was also nice to see two of my best friends finally get married – after almost 9 years.
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