Weekend in a Nutshell

Last weekend was our holiday - Victoria Day - or better known around these parts as the May 2-4 Weekend. You cannot say May 24 Weekend, you must distinguish between the two digits - 2 and 4. It was the May 2-4 Weekend.

Our family had a wonderful time in Syracuse, New York at the wedding of Lucas and Melissa. It's kind of weird going to the weddings of my friends' kids when we're still dealing with three-year-old issues, but I guess this just means that I get to observe and learn from my friends as they go through the process of letting their children go.

We stayed at a hotel near the church that had a pool. THIS was the highlight of the weekend - if you ask my kids. Christopher is STILL talking about "the cold pool" and "the warm pool" and "is that the building with the swimming pool right there?" He just loved being in that pool! I must admit that it was fun, but after 90 minutes in an indoor, over-chlorinated pool, a mom really wants to just move on already! This little mini-vacation was a great memory maker for the kids.

My memory-maker of the weekend wasn't all that fun, though. At the end of the reception when we were gathering our ducks to go home, we couldn't find Stephen. We looked and looked and asked all the kids if they had seen him and went all around the perimiter of the church looking for him. We started to get a little concerned because the boys (ALL the boys and some of the girls at the reception) had been playing in the woods behind the church and there was a lot of scruffy underbrush there. No one had seen Stephen recently, but almost everyone commented that he was in the woods in the "fort" that they had built. A large group of adults started plowing into the underbrush hollering Stephen's name, as well as Austin's, who was also MIA and seemed to have been with Stephen. We hollered and yelled and tripped and ran and (I) tried not to cry because my son was nowhere to be seen! After gaining nothing but scratches and a huge blister on my foot (since I was still in heels running through this brush), I came back out to the clearing in time to see Austin's mom holding Stephen's hand saying, "I think you'd better tell your mom where you've been. She's awfully worried about you."

There he was, standing so clean and cool (while the rest of us were sweating like the outside of an ice cold glass of lemonade on a hot and muggy day) and totally oblivious to the panic that was going on around him. Where was he? Well, he was just in one of the Sunday School rooms with Austin, playing the piano! WHAT?! No wonder we couldn't find him! I NEVER would have thought to look for him inside the church and certainly NOT in a room with a piano! He was writing music notes on the whiteboard and Austin would play that note on the piano. They were quite content in there, enjoying their activity and the coolness of the building. Sigh. Always an adventure with that boy!

And speaking of adventures with him, that wasn't the last. On our way home from Syracuse Sunday night, we stopped at Fred's brother, Dan's, for a campfire and fireworks. The kids were given sparklers and they were having fun waving them around and enjoying the experience. We were, too, until I heard a piercing scream coming from Stephen ... somewhere close to the creek. Sure enough, he was so intent on watching his sparkler and dancing all around with it that he didn't realize he was so close to the muddy bank of the creek and OOPS! Down he went! The poor, overtired guy freaked out because he had mud everywhere and wanted us to strip him down and throw his clothes in the fire. Being overtired can make you quite irrational. Since Mom and Dad Weinhardt live right next door, we just went over there, put him in the shower and pulled some clothes out of the suitcases that were in the van. What a day!

Now we're back in our routines and looking forward to another weekend full of adventures with our cousins, Daniel and Ryan!