Irene was a bit of a bust in MY neighborhood - OH SO NOT complaining... we kept power, house, tree limbs and all things MINE. Sure there were (and are) leaves and bits every-freaking-where but other than that and soggy ground we rode it out just fine thank you very much. Oh sure parts of me were hoping to be stuck inside one day to play and putz and enjoy... but frankly we did all right for the weekend that wasn't...
Let's turn on the way back machine shall we? (insert dreamy music here.. with a wavy picture.... -- leave the funky brownies alone...)
And we are back to Thursday our hero Aunt Ing is busier than a one-armed paperhanger with expiring glue... a first for the new job as things have been pretty mellow and groovy... but as she is taking off the next two working days she wanted to get things done, and tucked away before disappearing for that time... so mostly internal pressure -- and if I were some kind of slacker I would have just left on time... but I can't do that. Call me Type A... (thank you)
So I call the house, and there they are! All set up when I asked if they saw the plan I so carefully laid out - i.e. copied and pasted from the newspaper when I found something to do on Saturday - along with dinner suggestions and what to do with Bubba... (no not that!) We included him in meals - that's it. They hadn't seen it! I left it in the one place I thought they would find things without fail! Of course they didn't move the suitcases upstairs until I said to go look - but hey it's all good. And yes I had dinner suggestions all planned out... sue me. Dinner Thursday night was just us girls, it was fun, filling and loud - one thing about that burger joint... LOUD without a doubt. We gave Nana one drink with flavored adult beverage mixed with lemonade... and she was hot all of a sudden.. go figure. LOL.
We also hit the closing bookstore to discover - Christmas books (yes I bought) and toys and games and Sandy is close to done for her Christmas at 50% off! Glad to be of service!
The rest of the night was mellow as the 3 gals had traveled from a far and Aunt Ing worked all day... to bed we went with plans for a busy day on Friday...
Friday we woke and moved as we wanted to... went to breakfast at the Amish market - had to wait a bit for, a table, service, and breakfast.. but we understand that and we move on. ENJOYED breakfast - forgot the pancakes were bigger than the plate they are served on.. but Mom and Sis were undaunted by the challenge and managed to solider on. Darling niece at 1/16th of her breakfast and declared her tummy full... um Ok. Off our ladies went to conquer the downtown of the George Washington DC even... (as termed by previous niece-type visitor) and from the previous visit I learned that you cannot cart small children across the wilds of the city and expect happiness later in your day... so we stuck to one museum and still had a bit of cranky at the end of the day... but she's 4 and well Nana's old - I have no idea what my sister's problem was... ;-)
The train ride was a big deal for the first 5 minutes then we went underground and the novelty wore off in a quick like fashion but we maintained... and got there without issue - also figure out the all day pass thing and how that works... nice...
We did the 1812 Flag for Aunt Ing because the last time we were here the line was LONG and no one wanted to wait for that... plus the other two nieces were fading fast... we hit this first I was happy and we moved on... we saw the pretty dresses (of the First Ladies) and knowing my niece had taste she liked "the red one" which was Mrs. Laura Bush's dress - of course that very well may have changed the next day when her favorite color was blue or green... it depends you see.. so take that with what you will. (no politics here)
We saw the sparkly red shoes, which wasn't as big of a deal to this niece as it was to the other two - especially since she hasn't see the movie... go figure. She did enjoy the build it room there was a room with legos, and blocks and a circuit board thing where you can put stuff together and make a doorbell ring or a little helicopter spin... we spent a lot of time in there... and discovered what dorks we are compared to the 10 year old kid making it work and up as he went along... Aunt Ing and her sister needed the instructions.... ah well.
We also spent some time in the other playroom with motion type things, and that was enjoyed. We also "enjoyed" over priced pizza as the niece said she was hungry and we found the "cafe" but it filled the small hole and we went on to enjoy a bit more - and did some shopping. There was the only fit of the day... the darling niece spotted a toy that did have political overtones -and knowing her father's leanings we immediately broke her heart and said no! But... we shopped, she was outside the store - and we moved on...
We made our way home - in Friday rush hour which wasn't as bad as Saturday at the Cherry Blossom Festival so got home without trouble or incident. Bubba arrived home and poor sap it was written all over his face...a weekend with my mother AND sister-in-law toss in a 4 year old and the wife!! He ate good - and the only time we saw him was meal time...
Saturday we slept in - then went to breakfast and didn't my niece eat like she was never going to see eggs again. Then we made our way to the local arts place, had some fun and spent 9/10ths of our time in the kid's art room, we made two projects and really enjoyed painting on the wall - with paper on it of course... really people did you think.. never mind. We closed that one down... then went shopping! oh yeah -- Trader Joe's, Target, TJ Max, sister needed a new purse - she ended up with a new fancy wallet and we had a purse swap at Aunt Ing's. Hey whatever works right? Saturday dinner I took the family to the Japanese Steak house - where we were the ONLY reservation they had that night! By this time, the wind that had been around all day started to pick up and the rain was coming in large fits and starts but by-in-large it was wind and rain. So... we enjoyed dinner - the niece wasn't sure about the BIG fire but the dinner was enjoyed by all...
We crashed and didn't manage to make our chocolate-peanut butter dipped bananas.... we saw a thing on food network and the niece said "that looks good" hence we bought ...
Sunday -- we survived!!! Still overcast but without major issues, and with power.. oh there was evidence that it flaked in the night... but other than that... all good.
Bubba went and got bagels so we could enjoy breakfast at home... then we putzed about, Aunt Ing found the Color me mine ceramics place and that I think was a bit of a bust as the niece stopped when she wanted to put the end of the paint brush in her mouth and chew ewwww... but movie was presented while my sister and Aunt Ing continued with our art therapy projects... we enjoyed and a bit later... the niece got back into the swing of things....
Back home, and we went out with the neighbors to wish the boy next door a good year in school - the music was too loud and poor Nana got stuck at the end of the table without adult conversation... perhaps she had a better time than I figured...
Again home, full, and didn't make the bananas... but not before Bubba decided he wanted a chocolate milk shake from the world's worst Baskin Robins... language was an issue... the niece got the most gosh-awful red and green sherbet/ice cream concoction known to man kind - and lucky us she shared... gak. My sister got this hot fudge chocolate ice cream thing... and was ticked because something had nuts she didn't want... again see language barrier .. post sugar and chemical high.. home we went.
Monday Bubba (gratefully) went to work, we putzed... made breakfast, showered, talked and talked, and finally packed up and then for the last treat of the weekend - to the gas station for pizza!!! Now before you make those gagging noises -- it really is good pizza - there wasn't a slice left - yes we were piggies. So pizza done, hugs kisses and away they went... me? I checked on the lodge, found trees down but no major damage, and to the bank for the ladies group, gave passing thought to a grocery store run, then decided to go home and enjoy the peace - and miss my family for a few minutes... and watch my dogs sleep.
They were tired... as were we all I think. Still Plan B together was a good thing!
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