Surprise Tea Party

My homeschool gymnastics girls surprised me with a tea party at Reynolds Tavern yesterday!  I was told by one of the moms, Tuesday afternoon, that I needed to be at the gym at 10:30 AM on Wednesday morning with a fancy outfit on... they even had suggestions as to which outfit I should wear based on pictures that they saw of me from a cruise!  I couldn't imagine where I would be going at 10:30 am that would require a fancy outfit but I was excited!

10:30 arrived and I was picked up by one of the moms who drove me to downtown Annapolis... I figured we were going to one of the fancier restaurants on the water.  As we approached Church Circle the mom said, "We're here"... I had always seen Reynolds Tavern but I had never been inside before!  We walked in and a gentleman took us to a room with a closed door.  As he opened the door I could see empty tables set up for brunch... I thought the tables looked adorable because they were set with tea cups... what a fun place for brunch... and then the door opened a little more to reveal... SURPRISE... my entire morning group and their moms all dressed in fancy outfits for "Colonial High Tea."

We had 3 different types of tea to try... Liliuokalani, Cupids Arrow, and Angel Falls Mist... such fun names!  We began by putting a sugar cube in the bottom of our tea cups and then took turns pouring the hot tea over the sugar... I think the girls agreed that 3 cubes of sugar was best!!!  We enjoyed our tea with British accents!!!

After the first round of tea the girls had me open presents!  They had made me a mug during our field trip to Clay Bakers and then they made me something so special that I teared up a little... each girl had chosen a letter in COACH MARY and wrote something special about me... they took turns reading their letters... it was the sweetest thing ever!!!

After presents came our first course... soups and salads!!!  My spinach salad was fabulous and the girls enjoyed cream of crab soup!!!  

After the salad and soups, the waiters brought in three towers of goodies... Finger Foods!!!  Finger foods are so much fun... we each got to chose the type of scone that we wanted which came with strawberry jam and whipped cream... these were located on the first row... then there was a row of sandwich wedges with the crusts cut off as well as 2 different kinds of quiche... and finally the top row was the desserts... We all chose our desserts first!!!

And to top it all off, we even ordered creme brûlée to share since that is my favorite dessert!!!  I didn't get a picture of the creme brûlée because it was gone so fast!!!  Such an amazing birthday surprise with a great group of girls!!!  

And thank you to all of the moms for helping make this a truly special birthday... I am so blessed!!!

~Surprise Tea Party Handstands