Surprise!

My oldest nephew (21) is spending the summer in our area. He has a well-regarded internship with an organization in the immediate suburbs of our city (as opposed to my outer suburb). When the boys learned that he was coming, they were thrilled. They wanted to know how much he'd be around, and so on. As the internship is fairly intense, I tried to temper their expectations.

M has an event at school today. It's the 2nd grade special friend luncheon. As soon as the information went out, he asked if his beloved cousin could be his special friend. I wasn't sure when Big C would actually arrive, and given the demands of the internship was pretty sure it wouldn't work out, so I tried to lower M's expectations. He did make me promise that I would at least ask. Then we filled out the lunch form with me as the special friend (he wasn't pleased about that - to him I'm Mom, which is nothing special at all).

But I asked, and last week Big C said that yes, his schedule would work out so that he could be at the luncheon. Awesome kid, that Big C.

I decided not to tell M (or C or S) and make it a surprise.

Big C arrived in on our coast late Monday (my sister/his mom pulling some stunts at the last minute, sadly). I picked him up late yesterday afternoon on my way home from work (amid serious thunderstorms) and we drove down to our town. Great to see him.

The looks on the kids' faces when they realized Big C was here - and especially M's when I told him that Big C would attend his luncheon - was priceless. Truly. Big, big grins.

Since then, it's been a Big C love-fest. The kids spent the rest of yesterday competing with each other for Big C's attention. It was really sweet to watch. The dog loves him, too. I'm really glad to have him around.

Big C goes back up to the other suburb later today and we'll see him again next week. But if last night is any indication, it's going to be a good summer, for all of us.