April Fools

The night before April Fools Day I set up a great prank for Chan and the kids. I made it look like a man was sitting in the living room reading a newspaper. (I stuffed a pair of pants, put a pair of shoes on 'him' etc). Chan fell asleep with the boys earlier that night and when he woke up at midnight he came out and saw the 'guy'. Chan proceeded to actually talk to it. He fell for it hook, line and sinker. I was like "Who the heck did you think it was sitting on our couch at midnight??" He said he thought that maybe George came over or something. So, Chan admitted to being duped. Then he said "Um, the only thing is is that tomorrow is March 31... Not April 1." Crap! I had the wrong day! Anyway, it made for an extra funny prank. We left it up the next morning and Cam saw it and assumed it was Chan and then when he got closer he just stood there and stared at it - waiting for it to move. We caught it on video - it was pretty funny. He totally fell for it. By the time Dylan and Gabriel got up, the joke had been revealed. We left it up for Mimi to see and she totally fell for it too. We hid when she came in the front door and she immediately started talking to who she thought was Chan. He didn't respond. She just stood there in silence for a few moments and then finally said "Ok, where is everybody?" So I tricked 3 people, I'm pretty proud of that. :) Click photos to enlarge.

The "Fake Dada"... as the kids called 'him'.

Even though I set 'him' up, he still freaked me out
every time I walked past the living room.
It was almost too real.

When April 1 finally rolled around I needed a new gag. I saw online where you could download a fake brochure for "Chore Camp". I thought that would be a fun one to do to the kids. I'm still kicking myself for not setting the camcorder up to catch it!! I really didn't think they'd fall for it, but boy did they!! We could be $10,000 richer if it had been recorded and sent to America's Funniest Home Videos. The best part is that it totally captured each kids personality. The title of the brochure was "Adventure Getaway" (which sounded fun at first glance) and then it talked about how kids learn to take out the garbage, make their beds etc... Chore Camp. Cameron instantly got very excited... he actually wanted to go! He said "I love doing chores! This will be great!" (that's Cam for you, always positive and happy) and then you have Dylan who was on the verge of tears (as would I if my parents had suggested Chore Camp). The two reactions were priceless. I finally grabbed my camera after I realized how the drama was unfolding, so I caught a little bit of it on video, but I still wish I could have gotten the whole thing by hidden camera. (Don't mind our missing cabinets in the background of the video.... we're in the midst of a cabinet remodel). Click image to enlarge.

The brochure