The weekend of December 17 was going to be busy! Abe was having Lasik on Thursday and then we had planned to head to Toledo to celebrate Abe's birthday and Christmas with his family. Since I worked on Thursday at both my full and part-time jobs, Abe was able to get a friend to take him to and from the doctor's office. Then ,when I got off work at 10pm, I would just meet him at the Hope Hotel on the base and we'd leave in the morning. Sounded like a great plan!
Since it was Abe's birthday I decided to surprise him by bringing Lily with us! For those of you that don't know, Lily is my friend's 16-month old daughter who we'd claim as our own in a heartbeat. Any other day of the year would Abe would have absolutely loved that I brought her along, but like most of you reading this thinking "what a horrible birthday gift, you could be going out," Abe thought that too.
When I got to the base and he saw Lily in the backseat, the look of excitement never came it was more like the "what is she doing here" look. My heart kinda sank, I thought I ruined his birthday, after all we did have reservations at a nice restaurant and plans to go to the Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo. Abe seemed bummed out. He thought it'd be just the two of us.
My surprise...FAILURE!
Friday morning (Abe's birthday) came and we headed to Toledo, things appeared to be turning around, mainly since Abe has a soft-spot for Lily. Our reservations were at The Elephant Bar at 5:30. Although Abe's mom offered to watch Lily, I decided she would come with us. After all, she had a 2 1/2 hour nap and would surely be good. (She's always well-behaved for us). As you would guess, things weren't so great! Besides the appetizer, our food was horrible, Lily was covered in sour cream, chocolate sauce and didn't want to stay in here seat, and I had somehow accidentally exploded Lily's cup of milk in mid-air. We left the restaurant 2 1/2 hours later.
It was now 8:30 and we still had plans to go to the zoo. We went back to the house to clean-up and put on warmer clothes. At this point I was debating not going. It was getting late and was colder than I thought. Walking around in the cold and dark wasn't sounding too appealing. Abe really wanted to go, he was looking forward to it. I kinda felt guilty, it was the least I could do in attempt to turn things around.
Wouldn't you know when I went back upstairs Abe's mom offered to watch Lily so we could go "just the two of us." I was hesitant, but was talked into it. The mother in me came out as I went through the list of what Lily ate, when I last changed her, and telling his mom not to worry about putting her to bed. I promised we'd be back by 10:30 and to call if she wanted or needed us back sooner. Abe reminded me she'd raised several kids and knew what she was doing.
Finally at the zoo! For those of you that have never been to Toledo zoo, it is split into two sections by a bridge that crosses the road. Most of the zoo is on one side and the train, wolves, polar bears, seals and maybe a few other animals are on the other side. Our (Abe's) plan was to walk around the main part of the zoo and then finish with the train and animals on the opposite side.
I will say that the Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo are way better than the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. Anyway, before we were even finished with the main part of the zoo I was freezing! I swear I couldn't feel my toes or fingers and my nose was beginning to run. I was about ready to go. I told Abe we should finish up and head home (after getting hot chocolate of course). We headed to the train and the rest of the animals. Of course the train wasn't running. I would say I was sad, but that'd be a lie. I was secretly hoping it would be shut down. I already despise cold weather and wouldn't have even been able to pretend I was excited about sitting on a freezing train seat going 5 or 10 miles per hours with the cold air piercing my skin! So we headed to the polar bears, that'd be our last stop and then home we'd go!
We saw the polar bears and got just outside the exhibit. My walking pace increased and I now had tunnel vision----to the car! Abe lightly grabbed my arm asked if he could have a kiss. (Let me set the scene... it was just the two of us, we were standing just outside the seal exhibit, and the only light was the moonlight shining through the glass--super romantic) "We can kiss in the car," I said as quickly smooched his lips and walked on. Did I mention I was freezing and my toes were numb? I had only gotten a few steps when he said, "Can you come here for a minute?" I figured he wanted me to see the seals, but instead he asked for a "real" kiss!
The next few minutes are kinda a blur as it seemed so surreal....
I heard Abe say "You know what would make this birthday even better?" (Although I can't remember my exact thought at that moment, I'm guessing I would have been thinking how great it'd be if we could get to the warm car.) He started to get down on one knee. In total excitement I pulled him back up and hugged him. Finally the lucky guy got his kiss ;) Opening the ring box he said "Elizabeth, will you marry me?" I said "YES!" and shut the ring box. I headed for the car still wanting to thaw out my toes. Only getting about three steps before realizing what was just happened, I stopped and turned back to Abe. "Wanna see the ring now?" he asked. Well duh!
His surprise...SUCCESSFUL!
