Mom’s big birthday surprise this morning was a sisters’ four-day
weekend away in sunny Florida!
Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne came over in time for Tai Chi
with us; she and Mom were sent to have showers and get ready for the day while
Dad and Uncle Adam cooked breakfast; and Mom found out about the trip while we
had breakfast – the first gift she opened before being given the rest of her
gifts from Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, and me.
Aunt Leanne already had Mom’s bag packed and in her car; and they left
for the airport shortly after we finished eating.
That was a wild start to the day, and though I really wished
that we could have gone to Florida with them, Dad will be doing a lot of work
this weekend anyway; I have the dance and lots of other plans with Rowen;
Violet’s home for the week; and Mom really deserves a kid and work-free weekend
away. Aunt Leanne joked with us about
needing to do the trip now while she could still have some sun and fun in a bikini;
but I’m sure she wasn’t actually kidding about that. The girls’ weekend away may also be a
precedent that Rowen and I will really appreciate some day.
Once Mom and Aunt Leanne were on their way to the airport, I
helped Dad and Uncle Adam with the kitchen clean-up; got ready for school; helped
to get Ethan and Ehlana dressed and a bag ready to go for their day at
KidZone. Rowen came over to get me for
the walk to school, so she helped us with getting the twins into their car
seats before we needed to get going; and Dad headed out to work via a drop-off
stop at the daycare.
Compared to our early morning birthday entertainment,
classes were fairly unexciting. Everyone
was having fun as we counted down the last handful of hours to our long-awaited
week off – especially whenever we could be outside to enjoy another warm
day. Rowen and I ate our lunches while
sitting on the bleaches next to the football field, but that was also where
most of the tween and teen couples were hanging out too; so we wandered around
the school yard after we’d finished eating; helped some younger kids have some
fun at the playground; and wrapped up our time off with some double-dutch
skipping rope turning for a group of girls in Patrick’s class.
Our afternoon classes sped by – or dragged on endlessly;
depending on your perspective. When we
were set free, Rowen and I needed to meet up with Alicia; and then we walked
over to KidZone to get Ethan and Ehlana.
We made two more stops on the way home – the first to pick up bakery
treats; and the second to have those treats with Dad, Claire, and the client
who was meeting with Dad, but willing to join us for an Olde Bakery snack
break. We went home from there, and dropped
off our school bags.
With hours of warm weather just waiting for us to go outside
again and enjoy; we headed over to the park next to play with Ethan and Ehlana
at the playground. There were a lot of
kids and teens at the park, so we needed to take turns on the swings, and get
in lines for the slides and climbers.
There were footballs and Frisbees being tossed around; a little soccer
game on the go; some skipping rope action in the pavilion; and lots of kids
riding their bikes on the paths. We
stayed at the park until it was time to meet up with Dad at home, and then he
and Alicia started working on cooking pizzas for dinner while Ethan and Ehlana
supervised, and I went with Rowen over to her house to pack an overnight bag
for our first March Break sleepover.
We were back and had Rowen’s bag up in my room when the
phone call came in from Mom and Aunt Leanne.
They were in Florida
and checked into their hotel; and called to talk with us before going out to
dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. It
was actually only a little warmer there than here this afternoon, but they’re
going to have much nicer weather than we’re supposed to get for the next few
days. They didn’t have any travel
problems; Aunt Leanne hasn’t had any morning sickness issues so far; and she
and Mom both sounded very happy. Their
plans for tonight were to just hang out around the hotel, maybe catch a little
entertainment there, and go to bed early so they’d be ready for some quality
spa pampering tomorrow. For some reason,
they think that will be more fun than a day at Disney or Universal – which
could be another reason why kids and grown-up boys were not invited on the
trip!
While Mom and Aunt Leanne were trying out a five-star
restaurant, we were happily munching on thin crust, freshly cooked from frozen
pizza. Alicia had dinner with us, and
stayed to help with the cleanup before heading home. Violet was keeping Dad posted on her travel
progress, but while Mom and Aunt Leanne hadn’t had any problems getting to Florida; Violet had gotten into the middle of the Friday
night and holiday travel crush around Crystal Springs. She wasn’t expecting to get home until around
eight o’clock; so Dad and I took Ethan and Ehlana out for some more play time.
I’ve already mentioned that Rowen and I want to get new
bikes this year, and while we were walking to the park; Dad and I decided that
a bike trailer would be nice to have for Ethan and Ehlana too so we could go
riding with them this summer instead of walking whenever we took them to the
park or school to play. He’s going to
take a look for one next week when he’s in the city.
We went for a walk along the path to the falls and back when
we first got to the park; had fun at the playground for a half hour or so; and
then went for a walk along Witch Falls road to see what was going on there for
the first evening of March Break. The
stores all looked to be busier than usual for a Friday, and there were both
March Break and Easter sales being advertised in the display windows of the
usual stores. We picked up some welcome
home treats for Violet at the Olde Bakery, but only went into one other store –
and that was to have a little visit with Rowen’s parents before we continued
home to wait for Violet.
She pulled into the driveway at ten after eight, and Rowen
and I had been sitting on the front porch steps with Ethan and Ehlana; so we
were welcoming her home by the time she got out of the car and had a moment to
stretch out the cramps; and before Dad made it out the front door. Though she was tired from a long day at
school and about four and a half hours on the road; Violet was excited to be
home. I’m sure that had more to do with
getting to spend a lot of time with Dillon over the next week; starting as soon
as he finished his shift at the Inn tonight.
Most of the teens were working there tonight instead of Saturday night
because of the dance tomorrow; and Violet, Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie were
having dinner at the Inn again this year –
along with a lot of the teen couples; including Michael, Lisa, Tim, Nora, and
some of the other members of our Grade Seven couples club.
That’s dangerously close to entering the tweeird zone, so
let’s move along. Rowen and I took
Violets luggage up to her room on the third floor while she took her computer
and book bags into the office and stayed on the main floor with Dad, Ethan, and
Ehlana. She needed to unpack and get
some of her clothes hanging up, but we had our snack break and a chat in the
kitchen first before she went upstairs to do that and freshen up and change
before Dillon came over after he was finished at the Inn.
I thought that he might have Jake and Stephanie with him,
but apparently he and Violet were interested in some alone time tonight. They didn’t get an opportunity for that at
first, but it really wasn’t that long before Dad had Rowen and I help him to
get Ethan and Ehlana off to bed; he sent us up to my room to get started on the
movie-watching part of our sleepover; and he decided to go to bed early and do
a little research reading so that Violet and Dillon could have the main floor
to themselves.
Let’s not think about what they’re still doing in the living
room. I should probably be afraid that
Rowen and I agreed on watching the ‘Cinderella Story’ movies; though I’m
telling myself that I’m into our mini-marathon for the music, dance, and
laughs.
I am not crossing over!
So far, we’ve seen Hilary Duff off to Princeton
with her prince, and Selena Gomez has just about finished dancing and singing
her way into Drew Seeley’s heart. We’re
going to attempt to find out if Lucy Hale can make beautiful music with Freddie
Stroma; but may not stay awake long enough to see a third happy ending tonight.
And once again, I’m just watching these movies for the
music, dancing, and comedy. Really!
Rowen wants me to add that she sees a certain modern-day
similarity between these movies and my life; with just one thing missing in my
fairy tale. And here I was thinking that
with Aunt Leanne away for a long weekend that I’d be safe – silly me!
If I end up dreaming about Michael and I breaking out into
spontaneous High School Musical-like duets tonight you are so going to be in
trouble tomorrow morning, Rowen Emerson.
Now she’s singing ‘Start of Something New’. That’s what I get for actually giving her
that warning. I’m going to wrap this up;
take a break between movies; fall asleep during the last one; and try my very
best not to dream of soft, cuddly – I mean fluffy – bunnies.
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
