E is for Excellent

  What is your most EXCELLENT memory?

My most excellent memory is of the weekend I turned 60.  Belinda and our friend Liz and my best friend Lesley planned a surprise weekend for me that I will never forget.   It started Saturday morning with brunch at Cora, my favourite place to eat breakfast.   Belinda, Liz her husband Dave and her mother Trudy were there and we had a great time.   I knew I was going somewhere overnight that night, but I didn't know where.  I only knew I had to bring a bathing suit.   I tried to think where it could be but nothing seemed plausible.   We came back from brunch and loaded the car for the trip and Belinda said she had to pick something up at Liz's.   We begged Liz to come with us and she said she'd go ask her husband and 2 seconds later she came out with her suitcase!   Belinda was standing behind the car putting our destination in WAZE without me seeing.   So there I was driving, not knowing where I was going.  

We headed towards Niagara and I was thinking we were going to spend the night in Niagara Falls which is always a lot of fun. I thought maybe we were going to a spa.  I guessed out loud a few times but my companions were silent.   So I kept driving.  Then we took the highway that leads to the border and I thought, maybe we were going to New York.  I saw signs for Great Wolf Lodge, which was some place I always wanted to go, but quickly dismissed that as being way too expensive.   Imagine my surprise when WAZE told me to turn into the parking lot of Great Wolf Lodge!!!  I was SO surprised and excited.   As I was standing in the lobby waiting for Belinda to check us in I saw a bunch of balloons heading towards me...the person carrying them moved the balloons and I saw it was my best friend Lesley!  Another excellent surprise.   We had such a good time that weekend, going down all the water slides during the day and eating junk food and playing board games that night.  I had no idea any of this was going on because Belinda and I were dealing with her breast cancer and I had no expectations of doing anything special at all.

The saddest part of the weekend was that Belinda was recovering from a post surgery infection and couldn't get wet, so she missed out on the water slides.   But she was a good sport and we had fun anyway.  

Excellent memory.