Big Time Success

When we handed the girls their early birthday present they opened the package and said, "What's this?" They hadn't been to a live concert before so they didn't understand why there were holding five tickets to see Rachel Crow, Cody Simpson and Big Time Rush. The brunette twin said, "This is our birthday present?" Their two friends -- Morgan and Brynn -- were slightly more excited, but it was a tepid reaction overall. It was the reaction I expected from girls who didn't realize they were going to see the bands live.
As we drove their questions started. Is this a movie, like when we went to see Justin Bieber in Never Say Never? Are these guys going to be actors (like when we see a play) or will it be the real guys? What are they going to do? How long will it be? Can we play when we get home?
When we arrived at the stadium it was a mess. A storm rolled through a few hours before and the stadium lost power about two hours before we arrived. Even though the power outage only lasted about 20 minutes, the stadium management sent the staff home. When we arrived it was chaotic. The staff was arriving as the concert goers arrived. No one was quite sure what was going on.
By the time the concert started an hour late, the girls were trying to make the best of the delay. We were in our seats and ready when Rachel Crow came out. The girls weren't sure who she was until she sang her hit Mean Girls. Then they were excited to see her.
Cody Simpson just about took the blond twin out of her mind. Turns out she has a big time crush on the Australian star. She giggled and sang and danced the whole time. At one point she just stared at him with a big smile.
Big Time Rush was the headline band. The girls stood on their seats singing, danging and giggling. When the guys came out into the audience I thought they all might faint. They reached a pitch I didn't know possible. The brunette twin hugged me and said, "This is the best birthday present ever." The blond twin said, "Oh Mom thank you so much. This is so fun."
At one point the brunette twin tried to talk to me. I couldn't hear her over the crowd so I moved to her. She said, "This is why Dad was talking about a concert isn't it?" She remembered a few days earlier when Daddy almost slipped and told them about the concert. He covered nicely, but she remembered.  At the time she was confused. Now she thought it was funny.
On the way home the girls couldn't stop talking and giggling. They talked about what the guys did. They talked about their favorite moments. They talked about how much fun it was. They talked about how they couldn't hear anything, but they still kept talking.
I wasn't sure we could pull off a surprise birthday party and concert, but we did. It was a great time for everyone, including me. Now all we have to do is follow-up next year.