Girls' Weekend

   It's been a busy week!  I have managed to squeeze in an evening of theatre, a day all to myself, and a "Girls' Weekend" during the second half of Spring Break.  It was great!
   Every year my sister takes me to a play/musical/opera for my birthday.  I LOVE this kind of present!  This year we went out for dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant and had sticky rice with coconut cream and fresh mango for dessert (probably my favorite dessert in the world).  The we went to see Spamalot and laughed for two hours straight - pure silliness.  I spent the night at Robin's and slept in until late the next morning.  Sleeping in is such a luxury... With my early bird children, I never get to sleep in.  I'd have to say that sleeping late in the morning is the thing I miss most about my before motherhood life.
   Then I had an entire day to myself.  It was wonderful!  I have not had a whole day to do anything at all without worrying about anyone else since, well, before Katherine came home.  So that's been over 6 years.  I was due for a Me Day.  I explored stores I'd never been in.  I shopped.  I randomly roamed the city.  I sat in a coffee shop and read a book.  I had long hours in the company of my own thoughts.  And I filled my soul back up.  Then I met my mom and Steve and the girls for dinner.
   Once Steve left, our Girls' Weekend began.  For years my sister and mom would go off for a weekend of shopping and relaxing and called it their "Girls' Weekend".  Eventually, Katherine pointed out that she was a girl, too, so why couldn't she come?  So the annual 3 generation Girls Weekend began.  This year, we didn't travel far - just to Robie's.  The girls love staying at Robie's because she has a basement AND an upstairs, a swingset in the backyard, toys they don't see often, and Robie lets them so pretty much what they want.  So staying at Robie's is good.
   The next day, Robie had to work so Granny and the girls and I had to amuse ourselves.  We started the day by feeding the geese at the park.  Yes, Granny actually packed loaves of dried out bread just for this activity.

Then we went to the zoo.

Then we went back to Robie's for a nap.  Rachel didn't think that was much fun, but I did.
    We met Robie for dinner at IHOP and then went to a hotel.  Robin admitted that it felt odd to stay in a motel 3 miles from her house, but the girls think that staying in a hotel with a pool is the ultimate in luxury and excitement.  And they were SO excited!

After supper we went swimming.  We hadn't been in a pool since last August, but I can now report that Rachel is as wild as ever in the water.  She jumped in dozens of times, leaped from one adult to the other, and begged us to "let go" so she could swim (well, wiggle until she started to sink) by herself.  We were all tired after that.
   This morning we went shopping.  Nearly everything we bought was for the girls.  Imagine that!  We had a fashion show of all the purchases, but I managed not to have my camera then. 

We had Chinese food for lunch.  Katherine found her favorite peach-shaped rice flour rolls with red bean paste filling - beautiful and tasty.

Rachel, of course, had noodles.
   We went back to Robie's for a much-needed nap (the hotel is fun, but none of the adults got much sleep).  Then we drove home.  Girls' Weekend was great, but now we're glad to be home.