coryandcarissa

Hello everyone! So, at the last minute my husband, daughter (20 mos. old) and I will all be flying in to suprise our family for Thanksgiving and are seeking creative ideas of ways to suprise them (besides just walking in the door).

We have my daughter who I thought we could incorporate in the "reveal" and also have a cousin (who will be our airport pickup) who we can use to help too.

I know many of you have probably had the chance to suprise family with a visit, so please share with us how you did it! Thanks so much!

volcanogirl

Call them on the cell phone and tell them to come to the front door. When they open it, yell surprise!

tchoiniere

My parents are doing the same thing to my grandmother on Saturday. She is going to Church so when she is not there, they are going to walk in and be sitting there when she gets home. of course, she then turned around and decided to go to Florida the week after to visit them. I booked her on the same flight as my parents are taking on their way home!!! Double surprise

Maybe figure out a way to have the rest of your family be at a restaurant and walk in. Walking in is probably the easiest way. The best way to surprise people is generally the easiest way.

ltt

or have them at the restaurant. when they order their drinks, you be the one to deliver them instead of the waitress. i'm sure as you ask if they'd like anything else, they'll look up and see you.
if your 20 month old would cooperate, just have her standing on the steps, ring the doorbell and you and hubby hide around the corner.

KathyK

They will be surprised no matter where they are or how they find out that you're visiting. But please, don't leave your 20 month old alone on steps!

cfntmpn

Show up at their door Christmas Caroling!!!!!

Or, on a much less dramatic note, how about knocking on the door with a food offering - dessert, or something and say "just thought we'd add something to the Thanksgiving table!"

KathyK

If you post this in the "lounge" you'll probably get alot more responses.

annesherrod

I hate to be a party pooper but are you SURE they would not mind a surprize? Is this your parents, siblings?

I guess my BIG question is - Are you planning on staying there or a Hotel??? I would not be terribly happy if one of my siblings popped in unless I had cleaned and prepared a room for them, had them in my head count for dinner, etc...
I do not like those kind of surprizes, but that is just me. If my DD was married I would love for her to come, but not a surprizze!

I sound like the Grinch as I read this.... but..... just another side of the coin.

margyb

I'm afraid I'm with annesherrod on this. I would NOT be happy with a surprise visit because I wouldn't be able to prepare food and accomodations ahead of time. But...that's just my opinion and I'm sure you are checking to make sure they don't have other plans.

I hope it all goes well and you have a good time!

Margy

coryandcarissa

Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful suggestions... We love reading through them all!

To answer some of the surprise concerns... my cousin who will be picking us up at the airport will be our host, so we won't have to worry about him not being prepared. Also, we have a HUGE family, with ALWAYS more food than there are people to eat it. Since we'll be arriving on Monday, an extra trip to the grocery store (although I doubt we'd need it) wouldn't be any trouble at all.

Thanks again, I'd love to hear more ideas if you've still got some...

BKP

We just did this back in August! It is so much fun to surprise people like this. We just knocked on people's doors and watched their faces go from confusion to shock to surprise to happiness (we hope)! I'm sorry I don't have any more creative ideas for you.

I like the idea of involving your daughter. Could she call your relatives on the phone and ask them to open the door while you wait outside?

I'm sure there are tons of fun ways to do it -- but I like just a simple (easy) surprise!!!

I do want to point out though that if people weren't planning on you coming you will have to fit into their lives and not expect them to drop everything. I live on a different continent from my family so I thought it would be a big deal that we showed up. It was, and everyone was happy, but they all still had their own lives.

We also had a hard time organizing anything big at the last minute. We had a great time just hanging out with everyone but just trying to get us all out to the zoo one day was extremely difficult!

Have fun!

sf7307

Could she call your relatives on the phone and ask them to open the door while you wait outside?

I can't wait to hear the answer (she's 20 MONTHS old, not 20 YEARS old LOL!)