April Fools!

When we were growing up, we loved to pull pranks on one another. There were six of us kids. So, as you can imagine, April Fools Day pranks were a plenty and not restricted to April 1st. Some were fun and some were not so nice. I remember one not so nice one played on me. I was taking a nap on the couch and my sister and brother drew a mustache on my face with black permanent marker. Not just any mustache...the Snidely Whiplash handlebar kind of mustache.

I wasn't amused, especially since I had a date that night. After much scrubbing and a few tears, it came off. I can laugh now though. It really was pretty funny. Just not to a 17 year old.

Some of the other pranks were funny. I remember one done to my sister Laurie. For those of you who don't know, Laurie has Down's Syndrome. She's the oldest and the coolest of us all. Well, Down's kids are into routines and are a bit OCD about it. Well, every Friday night she used to like to have sleepovers on the hide-a-bed in the family room so she could watch movies, stay up late and hang out. We all liked to do it, too. It was fun to have our little parties with Laurie. Anyhoo. So she would stay up super late and then sleep in super late the next day. One Saturday after one of her late Friday night escapades, she was still asleep and we were sent by my parents (who had gone somewhere) to wake her up. This was never an easy task. She was a deep sleeper and not a happy camper when awakened. After several failed attempts, we decided to play around a bit. We put our dog's flip chips (rawhide strips) on her stomach and she immediately threw it across the room. It came out of nowhere and we were quite surprised. We put it on her again and got the same response. We put a couple of other items on her tummy and each time, the same response. Then someone got the idea to get the video camera out and repeated it a couple of times while filming it. After much amusement, for the finale to the video, they put a raw egg on her tummy. She threw it across the room with great force. As it flew threw the air, they filmed it soar in all its glory. When she finally woke up, we showed her the video. It was pretty funny. She laughed and talked about it for quite a while after that.

The biggest prankster of us all was Laurie. She pulled the best ones, too. She put a lot of thought and work into them.

Two of my favorites:
-She painted my brother Nate's toe nails in his sleep and then put his socks back on. He didn't notice until he went to gym class the next morning when he took off his socks. Classic!
-After watching the movie The Parent Trap, she got some string, toilet paper, honey, toothpaste and instant breakfast and"decorated" my brother Ben's room whilst he slept. I can only imagine the shock and amazement on his face upon awakening to see her handy work.

The best part of her pranks was her reaction afterward. She would get the biggest smile on her face, would laugh and say, "April Fools!" no matter the date on the calendar. So, when April 1 comes around, my thoughts always turn to her and her fun, playful ways. She passed away a few years ago. :[ Man! I miss that girl! There is no one like her. Here are some fun pictures for your viewing pleasure that show off that playful gal we love.

Here she is cracking jokes and having fun after bowling

Here she is at my wedding. I love the grin on her face.

Everyone else is serious and she is pulling a face. Love it!

This was at my bridal shower. I didn't see this picture until after she died. It makes me smile. It is so her! What a little teaser!!

So, any fun April Fools jokes you care to share? Ones that you pulled or that were pulled on you? Do share!! Before I forget, I saw this post and wished I had viewed it earlier. 15 April Fool's Day prank ideas. Some of them are pretty good! I'll have to remember some of these for next year! Hope you enjoy it.