When the alarm went off, Phineas's head popped out of his covers of his bed, and he glanced over at the calendar hanging on the wall.

Yup. July 11th, Candace's birthday. On the dot.

Phineas grinned. "Yes!" The boy stood on his bed and tossed his pillow at Ferb. "Hey, Ferb!"

Ferb jerked awake, and Phineas hopped on his younger sister's bed. "It's Candace's birthday!"

"Okay, I'm up, I'm up..." Penny sat up and yawned. "So, what are we gonna do for her birthday this year?"

"I don't know, sis." Phineas frowned thoughtfully. "All I know is that we gotta do better than last year."

Last year, the three kids had presented Candace with a nice birthday cake. But just before the young teen blew out the candles, a giant gorilla popped out of the top of the cake, scaring Candace out of her wits. The girl had fled away, screaming her head off, running to her room and slamming the door.

"Not our best work." Phineas grinned. "This time, it's gotta be something HUGE!"

The sound of a piano woke Candace up, and her eyes widened happily as she found herself sitting in a throne of her own. In front of her was a giant birthday cake with the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANDACE."

And standing above the cake was a singer. He cleared his throat and began singing:

" She's Candace.

Like the Venus De Milo, except she's not armless and handless.

She's got a big, honking truckload of ship-launching qualities.

And this is the reason she bears no resemblance to a praying mantis!

(Candace) A name with 7 letters!

(Candace) Only wears designer sweaters!

(Candace) She's got an allergy to dairy!

(Candace) And she's anything but ordinary! "

At that last note, Perry popped up and chattered.

Wait.

Perry?

The girl opened her eyes, and sure enough, Perry was there, chattering at her. "Perry?"

She flopped back into her covers, glaring at the platypus staring at her. The girl sighed, picked him up, and walked downstairs to Phineas, Penny, and Ferb, who were busy eating breakfast. The girl wrinkled her nose and held Perry out to Penny. "This is YOURS, I believe?"

"Sorry, Candace." Penny said sheepishly, taking Perry in her arms.

Linda turned to her daughter with a smile, holding out a special batch of birthday pancakes. "Happy Birthday, Candace! I made you a special breakfast!"

Lawrence smiled at them. "And after that, we have a surprise!"

At the word surprise, Candace's eyes shown like millions of stars, and she hurried over to her father excitedly. "What is it? Where is it?!"

Lawrence smiled mysteriously at her. "We have to drive to it!"

"Ooooh!" Candace grinned excitedly.

After eating breakfast, the Flynn-Fletcher family drove to Candace's surprise birthday trip. Along the way, Candace kept asking questions about the surprise.

"Is it the mall?"

"Nope!" Penny grinned at her older sister. She loved seeing Candace like this.

"Okay!" Candace's head whirled around excitedly. "But it's the mall, right?"

"No, it's not the mall!" Lawrence answered.

Candace glanced up at the sign they drove under and her expression fell. "Wait. Please don't tell me we're going to Mt. Rushmore..."

"Isn't it great?" Linda grinned, pulling out a pamphlet about the site. "Four American presidents carved into a side of a mountain."

" It was Phineas, Penny, and Ferb's idea!" Lawrence smiled.

Candace shot her siblings a steely look.

Penny smiled at her older sister. "You're welcome!"

After dropping the rest of the family off, Lawrence drove off to find an excellent parking space, while Candace narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Phineas took Penny's hand and glanced at Linda. " We're going up to the monument. Come on, Perry."

Linda waved them off. "Okay, we'll join you in a minute!"

She took her daughter's hand and walked into the gift shop, an excited look on her face. "Okay, Candace. It's your birthday, you can pick out anything you want. Ooh, what about the Mt. Rushmore bobble head?"

She held out the toy to Candace, and the girl frowned. "Mom. That's lame."

"Okay." Linda walked to another corner. "How about this cute cuddly Lincoln?"

Candace rolled her eyes, and her eyes landed on a familiar blonde standing behind a familiar food station, and her eyes widened. "Jeremy?" She ran over to the counter and sat on a stool with a wide smile. "Hi, Jeremy!"

The boy glanced up in surprise. "Hey, Candace."

"What are you doing here?"

"Ah, I'm just here on the Mr. Slushy Burger worker exchange program."

The sound of construction noises were heard outside, and the girl turned her head to see her siblings already at work. But, she forced herself back to Jeremy with a dreamy smile. "Uh, oh, well, it's my birthday today, and...I...uh..."

She jumped at the sound of clattering and turned to Jeremy. "I gotta check something. Back in a flash, 'kay?"

She zoomed outside, narrowing her eyes around suspiciously. "Where'd they go?!"

Back inside the gift shop...

"Hi, Mrs. Fletcher!"

Linda turned around to see Isabella and her team of Fireside Girls with a smile. "Oh, hi, Isabella. What brings you girls here?"

Isabella smiled up at her. "Fireside Girls field trip." She glanced around curiously. "Um, is Phineas here?"

Linda nodded. "He, Penny, and Ferb are out on the monument."

Outside, Candace glared around the area, looking for her siblings in annoyance. "Phineas?! Penny?! Ferb?! Oooohhh..."

"Hey, honey. What are them kids doing up on the monument?"

At that, Candace whipped her head around to see a man looking curiously through a pair of binoculars. She dashed over. "Let me see that!"

She peeked through the spyhole, and sure enough, there were her siblings, doing something to the monument. She grinned and dashed to the gift shop. "Mom! Mom, you've got to see this now. Here, look!"

She pulled her mother to the telescope, and Linda glanced in. "Oop. Ran out of time."

Candace groaned in annoyance and slipped in a coin. "here, look now!"

Linda glanced through the scope and smiled. "Oh, Old Reliable Geyser. How exciting!" She glanced down at Candace. "I'm just gonna go back to the gift shop."

Candace looked through the scope to see that the geyser stopped flowing, and growled in annoyance at the sight of her siblings.

Phineas stared around at the monument curiously. " Now, where should we start?"

"Well..." Penny was about to answer when a familiar dreamy voice spoke.

"Hi, Phineas. What'cha doin'?"

"It's a surprise!" Phineas responded.

"Can I help?"

"We could use a lookout!" Penny grinned at her. "That could be a huge help!"

Isabella saluted at her and dashed up a tree, watching intensely.

A second later, a Ranger glanced curiously up at the three siblings hard at work and pulled out his megaphone. "Uh, excuse me. Aren't you a little young to be restoring a national monument?"

Ferb held out his own megaphone to Phineas, who nodded. "Yes. Yes we are."

The ranger's frown turned into a smile. "Well, it's good to see young people taking an interest in our national heritage."

It took a while, but Candace managed to drag her mom to the monument, and Isabella, noticing her coming, turned to the siblings with wide eyes. "She's coming!"

She glanced down again at the sight of Candace and Linda walking up the stairs, coming closer. She turned to Phineas with wide eyes. "They're getting closer!"

Phineas glanced down at her. "We're running a little behind on schedule. Go to Plan B."

"PLAN B, GIRLS!" Isabella called through the bullhorn.

The Fireside girls saluted and rolled up a painting in front of the monument. Candace stomped up the stairs and pulled her mother to it. "You are gonna be shocked by what I'm about to show you, Mom."

They arrived at the top, and Candace's mouth dropped open at the sight of a painting covering up the view. Linda hummed at the painting. "Hmm. I guess things look better in photos."

The phone rang, and Linda picked it up. "Oh, it's Dad."

"Hi, honey! I found an absolutely brilliant parking space!"

"Great!" Linda grinned, walking back towards the gift shop. "I'll meet you at the gift shop, Dear. I still have to buy that big stick."

Candace stared at the painting in shock, but a second later, a bird knocked into the painting, falling to the ground, dead, at the same time pulling down the painting with it, revealing the real Mount Rushmore. Candace tilted her head curiously at the sight of a cloth hanging on a corner of the monument.

"NOW!" Phineas called, and he, Penny, and Ferb quickly pulled the sheet, revealing a hideous look of Candace's face. Penny glanced down at Candace's shocked face and whispered something to Phineas, who glanced at the monument with a nervous and embarrassed expression. "Oops!"

Penny did a hand motion to Ferb, who nodded and quickly fixed up the head with a couple of hammering, perfecting Candace's face.

Candace stared at the perfect statue of herself in shock and then burst into happy tears. " I-it's...IIIIIT'S BEAUUUUTIFULLLL...!" Her grin grew and she zoomed to the gift shop. "MOM!"

She ran into the gift shop, all smiles, accidentally tripping on the ground, but she pushed herself up and ran to her mother happily. "I've gotta show you something right now!"

Linda glanced down at her daughter suspiciously. " Candace, are you still trying to get the kids in trouble?"

Candace shook her head, still smiling happily. "No! No, no, this is a great thing! Oh, it's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me!"

Linda gasped as she walked up the stairs. " You know, Candace, this is the second time I've climbed up there! I'm already down half a dress size!"

"COME ON, HURRY!" Candace yelled. "Hurry, Mom! You won't believe it!"

The sound of crumbling was heard, and the girl turned to the statue of herself curiously. "Huh?"

A second later, a lava river poured out from different directions of her statue, and she cringed. "EWWW!"

More lava burst out, and Candace's eyes widened as she watched her whole special birthday present melt away into a river of lava. Penny, Phineas, and Ferb grabbed hot dogs and started roasting them over the fire, and an orchestra played dramatic music as the lava river flowed, and a second later, the Old Geyser exploded again, cooling off the lava into normal rock, and the monument was just as it was like before the kids added a little something to it.

Candace could only watch in hurt shock.

Linda breathed heavily and patted a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Whew! Finally made it, honey! Now, what is it you wanted me to see?"

Candace could only stutter. "Bu...but..."

Linda glanced up to see a real Mount Rushmore monument in front of them and smiled widely. "You're right! It's beautiful!" She gave Candace a hug. "Happy birthday, honey." She walked off. "Now let's go find your father."

Candace let out a groan and banged her head on the rod. Penny smiled softly at Candace and gave her a hug. "Did you like your present, though, sis?"

Candace whimpered a little, nodding her head before walking off, still in shock.

A few moments of silence passed until Ferb spoke. "Well, it was definitely better than the gorilla in the cake."

"Agreed." Penny sighed.

Candace let out a heavy sigh as she walked down the steps of the Monument, and would've continued sulking if Jeremy didn't stop her with something special. "Hey, Candace! I had a break, and I, uh, I thought I'd give you this for your birthday."

He handed the box to her with a smile. "I saw you looking at it in the gift shop."

Candace took the gift out and raised her eyes at the bobbling heads. "A Mt. Rushmore bobblehead."

Jeremy glanced at her anxiously. " Eh—You like it?"

Candace glanced at it, and then hugged it close to her chest, smiling at Jeremy dreamily. "Oh! I absolutely love it..."

"Great!" Jeremy waved at her, walking back to the gift shop. "I gotta get back. Happy birthday!"

Candace smiled as she boxed up her present. "This was the best birthday ever!"

NEXT CHAPTER: FLOP STARZ