A Central Florida girl celebrated her birthday Saturday and got a surprise guest when her soldier father surprised her.
Allison Candelario, 9, of Davenport was excited to celebrate her birthday at Nickelodeon Suites Resort in Orlando, doing the hula and clapping along with SpongeBob Square Pants. But it got a whole lot better when her surprise birthday present arrived.
Her father, U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Daniel Candelario, just returned from a 10-month deployment in Kuwait and surprised his daughter, an emotional homecoming for both of them.
“I feel really, really happy because my daddy came,” said Allison.
It's only the third time that Allison's father has been able to be home on her birthday.
“It’s pretty hard, she’s wonderful, and to be away, it really hurts,” said Candelario.
Allison's mom Maria got the idea after her friends who had similar surprise homecomings.
“She sees her friends running to their dads, and one time she told me daddy would never do that, he would never do that, and I was like, yeah, I know, I know he wouldn’t,” said Maria Candelario.
It wasn't easy to do; Sgt. Candelario arrived two days early.
“It was so hard to keep it a surprise, because I just wanted to hug her,” said Candelario.
After a lot of hugs, and pictures with SpongeBob, Sandy and their friends, it was time for just some daddy and daughter time.
Sgt. Candelario will be home for the holidays and hopefully for the next year before he's deployed again overseas.