Stop number one was on Friday in my hometown of Red Oak. We enjoyed dinner with my dad, stepmom, and one of my old BFF's--Jill. Then Jill, my hubby, and I went to my 15-year class reunion. Jill came along because she was in our class but moved to Houston in 9th grade. So it was really her class too. Anyways.... if you saw the previous post, I was a little nervous about it-- but ended up having a GREAT time.
It was a small turnout but it was fabulous getting to see old friends. I got to see Chris-whom I usually refer to in conversation with my husband as "vegas guy" because that's where he lives. I got to see my matron of honor and her husband, Erin and Philip. I got to see, besides Erin and Jill, another one of my oldest dearest friends, Marcy. It was great to give a big hug to everyone. Other attendees included Aaron, whom I had a crush on in 7th grade and whom Jill dated in about 9th grade; Jeff Sallach who was a wrestler in high school and on weigh in days spent the day in a sauna suit spitting into a cup to get rid of any water weight-and then he'd chow down on junk after weigh-in; Benji Maxell who claims to have no recollection of how mean he was in junior high but has turned out nice after all, Bill Price whom I was friends with when we were little, and when he moved back I claimed I certainly never would have played with him... but our dads were friends and I think Bill is one of those ones who will always be a friend of mine too. Eileen, Kristina, Richie, Sandy, Jeremy, Pat, Shane, Jed, Audra, Lisa and Joe were there too. There was an additional function on Saturday night but I didn't get to attend that one.
My two dates for the night:
Jill, Marcy, and I. We were BFF's in junior high, tho we spent a lot of time in Mr Ray's office crying/fighting about something.
Some of the boys, Benji the one who turned nice, Jeff the wrestler, Philip-who is married to my oldest friend Erin (oldest as in longest!), and Jeremy-one of the nicest guys ever. Philip, his wife, and I were even in the same Kg class.
I considered almost everyone in my class of 90-or-so people my friend. That's the way I am. Or that's the way small town life is. I'd be happy to run into almost all of them. Except for about five people who shall remain nameless.
Anyways, it was so great seeing those who turned out for the Friday night "drinks at the Barn Door" gathering. Some looked just the same, some actually looked better, and some...well... I think I'm doing pretty good compared to some...haha. We had a fun time chatting, catching up, reminiscing about old times, and enjoying each other's company. It made me think "I should have gone to the 5 and 10 year reunion after all" and it also made me think "I wish this happened more than every 5 years."
Aaron and Bill. and part of Pat
I would have to say that Facebook made a big difference I think. Most of us who were there had already reconnected via Facebook in recent months, so it wasn't like it was the first contact we'd had with each other in 15 years. That made it, I think, more comfortable.
I would have to say that Facebook made a big difference I think. Most of us who were there had already reconnected via Facebook in recent months, so it wasn't like it was the first contact we'd had with each other in 15 years. That made it, I think, more comfortable.
Matt stayed down at the Lounge with us for about 2 hours and then he went back to our hotel suite to relieve the babysitters (dad and diane). Jill and I went back around 11, did some more chatting together, and then I went to bed about midnight. I would have liked to have stayed longer, but Matt didn't want a tired crabby wife for the next day.
On Saturday we had breakfast at Dad and Diane's with my brother and his wife, and then we met Jill down at the Junction Days Parade. It was the girls' first parade. Brooke got about 20 lbs of candy. She was loving it. Hannah was tired. And I got to see more old friends and spend some additional time with Erin, and meet her girls. That was fun but it is a long parade. Not all that entertaining. I was entertained by the socializing and watching Brooke.
After lunch we headed up to my mom and stepdad's house in Indianola. That was about a 2.5 hour drive. We hung out at their house, went to Pete's Pizza for dinner, figured out sleeping arrangements, and hung out some more. Sunday we had a relaxing morning at their house. The weather was gorgeous and we spent most of the time on their back deck with the girls playing. Hannah woke up that morning saying "Roo" which is their dog's name. It was cute.
Roo the furball is hard to see in this picture, but Hannah is petting her and giggling like crazy.She loves dogs. Seriously.
Sunday afternoon we drove to Great Wolf Lodge in KC and met Matt's parents. We did dinner at the over-priced and slowly served Lonestar, then did some swimming. After we got Hannah to sleep, Matt and I took Brooke to the arcade. We got lucky on some tickets (a machine didn't give Matt his tickets so we had the operator fix it and we apparently got all our tickets and several other previous winners' as well!). Monday morning we swam some more, hit Oak Park Mall (since our Disney store closed, we had to stop there!), and headed home in the afternoon. Here is an indication of how much time and money I used to spend at our Disney store; the manager from here had transferred to OakPark, and she remembered me!
I will have to say here that Hannah really threw us off kilter for sleeping this weekend. When we put her to bed in the hotel on friday in her Pack-N-Play, she freaked out and screamed and would not go to sleep in it. I don't get it. She had NO PROBLEM at all going to sleep in one on the cruise. Diane ended up laying with her on the air mattress we'd prepared for Brooke, and she slept on that. Same thing for Saturday night. And yes again for Sunday night. What a turkey. That means that on Friday night, Brooke slept with daddy and I slept on the sofa bed in the other room. On Saturday night, she slept on a sofa while I slept on another air mattress on the floor and daddy slept on the bed in the room where Hannah was on the air mattress. And on Sunday, Hannah was on the air mattress in Gma and Gpa's room, Brooke was in bed with me, and Matt finally got a bed to himself for the night. Never have we been so glad to get home to our own beds. I'm not anxious for my baby to not be a baby anymore, but I'm ready for Hannah to be big enough that we can make the girls sleep together on vacations!
This pretty much summed up Hannah's weekend. With her pack-n-play strike and our schedule, all of her naps took place right here, in her carseat. I just planned that every afternoon after lunch would be our travel time to the next spot, and hoped she'd fall asleep!! On the 5.5 hour drive to Iowa she only slept about 30 minutes...but on the trips to Indianola, Kansas City, and back home we got about 1.5 hrs worth of napping in each time. When we left to drive to Indianola, she was asleep in her carseat before we'd driven the mile to the McDonald's drive thru. It was unreal!
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To steal a little blurb from my cousin-in-law Kacy; some people don't know how to leave comments on here. So I'm gonna tell ya-- below each post there is the word comments in small print, I think it's blue. Click on that word and it will take you to the comments screen.
1 comment:
Sounds like you had a great time. Your girls get cuter with each and every picture!
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