I lied.

I have a confession to make... This past weekend wasn't all about ice fishing in celebration of Kyle's birthday and Valentine's Day as I previously made it out to be. I needed an out, and telling the truth, well, would have ruined the surprise.

Over the weekend I threw a small surprise birthday party for my hubs. A friend graciously allowed a few people over, spending the evening at his lake house in Stoughton. I wanted to do something special and memorable so adding a party bus and a night out in downtown Madison seemed like the complete package for the ultimate surprise.


Weeks of planning and countless ideas of how I would get Kyle to Madison became the tricky part. At first I briefly mentioned a nonchalant idea of going to Madison for lunch (my plan was to do a little detour and arrive at our friends lakehouse) and celebrate with a few friends that evening, but his response was less than welcoming. "Why would we drive to Madison just for lunch?" he says. Speechless, I had to come up with a plan B. Ice fishing. Since we've been out every weekend since New Years I assumed going ice fishing at someones lake house= no suspicions and easy. And that's what we did. An invitation extended and we obliged. I tried to play a little "well, I don't know if I feel like going..." game and throw a little curve ball in the mix.

Needless to say Saturday morning comes and I stall, which is easy since I suffer from chronic lateness...(more on that in another post), and naturally Kyle's annoyed, and on we went. In route. Him thinking we were ice fishing for the afternoon and heading home afterwards. What a sucker. (The best part is when someone is annoyed with you and you can't help but smile because you know they have no idea what's in store).

An hour goes by and we arrive with a few people already present and decorations set. Kyle Walks downstairs, flies past the decorations, takes an abrupt halt, and confusingly looks right to left observing this happy birthday decor. Frozen in time, we jokingly add we're intending on celebrating as we ice fish. And so we proceed with no surprise party in sight.

P.S. Ice fishing lasted a record 20 minutes, given the weather was a joke and cold as heck.

Over the course of the afternoon, more and more people arrived and the confusion magnified. Around 5PM we brought out an ice cream cake, sang the birthday tune (out of tune per usual), and I announced the party bus would arrive in 45 minutes, headed to dinner in Fitchburg, followed by an evening out on the town in Madison.

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had throwing in these little surprises all throughout the day and leave him questioning what in the world was happening. 

After the party bus arrived, we stocked up on fuel at the Great Dane in Fitchburg for some delicious burgs and brewpub beers.

We forged to the old Sugar Distillery for a delicious after dinner cocktail. Apparently more brandy is consumed in Wisconsin than any place in the world. 

 We left the distillery and owned the night.

Of course, we ended with an old fashioned dance party/ dance off. You can't end a great birthday without busting a few moves.

 ...Or the morning after for that matter.

Watching how excited Kyle was throughout the night brought me such joy. It couldn't have gone any better.

So there you have it. The truth about my weekend. I can't believe I didn't take more pictures, but maybe that's just a sign that I was living in the moment. 

Have a good one.

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