January 10, 2005 - 2:05 p.m.
What a weekend.
Friday morning I dropped Zack off at preschool and dashed home to find something entertaining for Marcus to do while I packed the car. There's nothing they like better than their trains so a trip to Camp Grandma would be cruel on my parents without Thomas and several dozen of his friends. And, after lessons learned in previous trips, no engine, rail car, or other accessory can be left behind because it will be that sole missing item that they cannot live without. Add to that enough clothing to get through the weekend without packing everything they own and their blankets and stuffed toys necesary to sleep, perscription medications (just in case) and toys for the car... it took most of the morning.
I was very concerned about what I had gotten my parents into for the weekend. Last time the boys stayed with them for an extended period was the Pennsic dry run fiasco. Visions of weepy, grumpy preschoolers yelling "I want to go home" every 2 minutes... These are not the memories you want a grandparent to have. So I talked with Zachary about what to expect - 2 nights at Nana and Papa's house, a trip to the mall to play, visiting the "big church" on Sunday, and maybe a Happy Meal somewhere in there.He summed it up into "Two sleeps and then you come back?" and seemed satisified with that.
When we arrived at my parents' house and unloaded, Zachary waited an hour or so and then started asking me when I was going to leave. Then he ordered me out. "It's time for you to go Mommy! Bye bye!" Of course I fretted the whole drive home and called my mother twice but the boys did fine.
Saturday morning Mike and I overslept for the first time... in years. With little children, alarm clocks are superfluous. We barely made it to the site before court and actually spent a large chuck of that time changing clothes and running to and from the car. We did get to see Deirdre awarded her Pelican, however, which was way spiff.
The rest of the day is kind of a blur. I added to my garb - fake hair! So now I can have those thick braided loops for my 14th century look. Just need to be certain to keep my roots dyed now... (Yes the hair color experiment is getting better. It seems that the 2nd and 3rd applications evened out the dubious 1st and, after looking at holiday pictures, I'm rather happy with it.) Got to see Guiliana take her first apprentice and talk with people I hadn't seen in months or longer. Good day. Pictures in a week or so I hope. I ought to look into a digital camera...
Sunday we slept in again (ah!) and made another round trip to Richmond and back to collect our children who didn't particularly want to come home. Mom and Dad had taken them to see Krispy Kreme donughts made and given them all kinds of treats over the weekend. Zachary cried that he couldn't spend another night there. I wonder if Mom's doing anything the weekend of Ymir...
Dashed home and out again to drive with love2fly and jdl to the candle party at hun-e-b's house. Much wax sniffing and catalog shopping and home by 11 pm to collapse into bed.
Today - unpack and clean. Back to the mundane world.
