Two sisters performed a real-life ‘parent trap’ on their grandparents – pretending to be each other to see if they noticed.
Danielle Hendricks, 26, and her younger sister Alexa, 23, surprised their grandparents, Shirley and Dan Carter, 84 and 85, respectively, for Thanksgiving.
Her grandparents knew Danielle was coming, but they didn’t realize that Alexa had also moved from New York City back to her hometown in Hopkinsville, Kentucky — where the two now live.
To reflect the plot of the classic film starring Lindsay Lohan – in which she switches places with a twin sister – the pair switch sides mid-conversation.
Danielle entered the house first and talked to her grandparents before going out into the yard and changing jackets with Alexa – who went back into the house and started behaving like her sister as part of the prank. Gave.
But it didn’t take long for their eagle-eyed grandmother to realize that something was different.
Alexa tried not to make eye contact with her grandmother – she said she would notice right away – but she became nervous when Shirley started “gasping” and both grandparents started crying tears of joy.
Alexa, a content creator from New York City, US, said: “I couldn’t even look my grandmother in the eyes – I knew as soon as she looked at me, she would realise.
“My grandmother realized first, her mouth dropped open and she started gasping,” Alexa said. “My grandfather saw Danielle on the other side of the room and didn’t realize I was standing there. They were surprised and confused – they both started crying. It was quite sweet.”
Growing up, Alexa says that she and Danielle looked very different but as they got older they look more alike.
“We’re three years apart, so we were pretty different growing up,” Alexa said. “In our 20s, a lot of features start to look similar and red hair turns people off. We’ve definitely become more alike as we’ve grown up.”
Alexa has always been close to her grandparents but after moving to New York City last year she only sees them during the holiday season.
The night before she was to meet them, she wanted to surprise them and decided to see if she could stunt and switch clothes with her sister.
“I really like surprising people, they didn’t think I was coming for Thanksgiving, but they knew my sister was coming,” Alexa said. The night before I couldn’t sleep and was thinking of how I could surprise them. I wondered how we could create a parent trap in real life and that’s what we did.
Danielle and Alexa visit their grandparents on November 21, 2024.
But it doesn’t take long for Shirley to realize that something is different.
Alexa said: “I was there for 40 seconds and my grandma figured it out pretty quickly.
“I knew my grandma would learn it, she’s usually on top of these things,” Alexa said. “I thought they would realize as soon as I started talking.”
