The Girls Get Away

Or, "The Girls' Get-Away." Either way, that's what my girls and I did two weekends ago. I pulled them out of school Thursday afternoon at their last recess and we headed down to my parents' place in The Big City for a whirlwind weekend of fun!

There is one particular annual community garage sale down there that had become a bit of a tradition with my mother- and sisters-in-law and I before we moved out here to the Valley that I hadn't attended in quite a few years already. Either at Christmas or Spring break ~ I don't quite remember which ~ one of my sisters-in-law and I decided this year we were both going to make an effort to get into the city for it again and the others could join us if they could. She now lives 3 hours outside the city, so for both of us, this garage sale required some commitment!

But the big deal, really, was what we did on Friday. After spending a beautiful morning with my dad at a local park that has a great playground, duck pond, and hiking trails, we headed off to the mall to meet with my sister-in-law for the appointment my girls have been begging for for at least the last 3 years...

EAR-PIERCING!!

Mack's been asking ever since she started school, I think, and for the last couple of years, AJ's joined in with the begging. So as an end-of-the-school-year kind of gift, The Man and I decided they could FINALLY have it done this weekend.

Both girls were nervous beforehand, but Mack surprised me by almost panicking as she sat in the stylist's chair, me and her aunt holding her hands, and a stylist at each ear, guns loaded. But she managed to stay put, and once it was over, in the blink of an eye, it had obviously not been as bad as she expected. Her reaction, however, seemed to give AJ the impression that it was nothing at all and so her tears came AFTER the piercing, which clearly had hurt more than she had anticipated! Either way, both girls were all smiles within moments and feeling quite proud of themselves. And going out for DQ Blizzards afterwards certainly helped, too!

The garage sale the next day was a little disappointing stuff-wise, but I had a GREAT time with my sister-in-law all day long. Mom-in-law joined us for a short while in the morning, but left before lunch ~ when I discovered the deliciousness that is sauerkraut on hotdogs!

After a day of sauntering around, my sister and I ran a few errands and then picked up the girls at my parents' house, heading to another sister-in-law's home just outside the city for supper and a cousin playdate. It was a really perfect day for being outside all day and spending it with good friends and family. They have a great little playground near their house, so naturally, we had to check it out.

Sunday ~ departure day ~ came all too quickly and after visiting our old church for the morning service, we had a quick lunch with The Man's parents and headed back home. We encountered a serious rainstorm, complete with hail just as we left the city, but fortunately, that only lasted about 15 minutes and then the skies were clear the rest of the way home. Sadly, our DVD player quit working about that time and the a/c quit just moments later, but all things considered, the trip home went fairly well, too. Just a little warmer than usual!  (And a few more whiny "how many more minutes?" than usual, too, I guess, but nothing as aggravating as I was expecting!!)

It was a quick, fun trip and as always, kinda tough to leave, but OH, SO GOOD to come home!!