From as early as I can remember through sometime in junior high , April 1st meant one thing - there would be a pony in the backyard.  Or, so my dad would tell me.  Every April Fool's Day my dad would run into my room early in the morning and yell, "Jennie, there's a pony in the backyard".  Each year, forgetting it was April Fool's Day, I'd jump up out of bed and ask "Where?"  Once I was a little older, it was met with a "yeah, right" and wouldn't even bother getting out of bed.

Once Ryan and I were older and living away from home, it was a race to see who could call dad first on April Fool's Day to tell him to look out the back window.  During the years when Ryan worked factory jobs or delivered Coca-Cola, he always won.

This morning, we were at my parent's house.  Here's the play-by-play:

Grandpa Pat (yelling from the living room): Martin, come quick!  There's a pony in the backyard!
Martin (jumping off his chair and running into the living room): Where?  Where's the pony?
Grandpa Pat: There's the pony!
Martin: Where?  I don't see him.
Grandpa Pat: April Fools.
Martin: What's April Fool?  Where's the pony?
Grandpa Pat: It's a joke, Martin.
Martin: I want to see the pony.
Grandpa Pat: There isn't a pony, Martin.  It is a joke?
Martin: What joke?  I don't see a pony.


Here's Martin, looking for the pony.  Somewhere between excited, forlorn, and disappointed.  The perfect April Fool's outcome.  All in all, a pretty good introduction to the fine art of lying to your family for your own entertainment.  As long as it's only that one day a year.  Lying to your family the rest of the year isn't funny, it's just wrong.