Happy Memorial Day!
I hope you said a prayer of thanks to all the men, women, girls and boys who’ve sacrificed over the last two and a half centuries so that we can live, love and barbecue in relative peace and freedom.
My big weekend began on a rainy, cold morning, when I got a text saying that our painting class was cancelled due to no one wanting to stand around in the freezing rain for three hours. What a bunch of babies.
So, I got some work done instead.
Then, midafternoon, Katie brought BoopityBoop over. She had friends from out of town visiting and they were going to a concert, so the girls were spending the night with me. Fun!! It was raining when they got to the house but over the course of the next hour, the skies cleared and it turned into a beautiful spring day in late May.
Just in time for Molly’s graduation party!
I can’t believe Molly’s graduating from high school. It used to seem like that made you kind of a grown up but the older I get, the younger high school graduated get. College grads still seem like babies these days…perhaps its because nothing about the college experience is geared towards creating adults anymore. Safe spaces? Ain’t no safe space or free ride in this Carnival World!
Like so many others these days, Molly’s party was a joint affair with two of her oldest and dearest friends, which only means I’d never been to the house before. When I agreed to have the twins with me for the night, I just said I’d take them with me to the party.
I really didn’t think this through at all.
The first inkling I had that it was going to be a bit more difficult than I’d imagined was when I got to the house; a gorgeous home in a lovely neighborhood not too far from mine but over the city border into Edina. The homes and yards were enormous and perfectly manicured but the streets were narrow and winding, with no sidewalks. Under ordinary circumstances, no problem but I was there for a party, so those narrow, winding streets were all jammed with giant SUVs, parked everywhere. I had to park nearly two blocks from the party. No biggie, right?
All I had to do was get two toddlers from my parked car to the party. Did I mention there were no sidewalks and every inch of street had a huge car parked on it?
For a few seconds, I let the girls run across someone’s lawn but that was too risky: the street was too close and there are two of them. I couldn’t risk letting one of them get away from me. So, I hoisted one under each arm and lugged them the rest of the way. I put them down on the front lawn of the party house. They both ran up to the front door, screaming joyfully at the big bouquets of green balloons that festooned the entrance. There, we met the delightful Mom who was the primary hostess. I thought the hard part was over.
Gorgeous house! I’m surprised she allowed her daughter to pack it with high schoolers but everyone seemed to be behaving themselves.
We made our way through to the big, open kitchen where there was an island as big as an aircraft carrier completely covered in food; Frankie’s Pizza! In all different descriptions!! I planned on finding some cheese pizza and stuffing BoopityBoop with it. I was also hoping to find some chipotle barbecue chicken pizza because that’s my Frankie’s favorite. Before I had a chance to peek under the covers of two pizza boxes, BoopityBoop had made their way through the crowd in the kitchen to the beautiful open French doors that lead to the back yard, which was full of kids…
And a pool.
The party immediately got a lot more difficult.
What could be more fun than a pool party where you’re in charge of two toddlers who don’t want to stay away from the water’s edge while a hundred high schoolers are milling about next to them, almost knocking them in? A root canal without drugs? Maybe!
Grandma Punkin had the brilliant idea to entice them away from the pool by promising them cake.
It worked for a minute or two but the second the frosting was gone, Boopity was off, running under tables and between the legs of adults back to the pool. My brother Andy caught her before she could launch herself onto a floating tiger.
We stayed at the party for about an hour. It felt like six. I never did get any pizza.
I carried them back to the car but we didn’t go home right away. The car was right on a nifty little park tucked into the midst of the neighborhood. A walkway lead down a gentle slope to a playground. I figured the girls were full of cake; a little playground exercise was probably in order.
They were enthusiastic about that plan! The hard part there was getting them to stay on the walking path, which was critical. We’ve had so much rain in the last month that what looks like an idyllic grassy meadow is actually a sucking mud swamp far more dangerous than a swimming pool. I managed to get them all the way down to the playground without losing so much as a shoe in the mud.
Once there, we had a lot of fun, climbing, sliding, swinging…Boopity even made friends with a little boy who was there with his Moms.
I let them run off their cake for about 40 minutes before I chased them back up the hill to the car.
By the time we got back to my house the sun had set and it was getting dark.
They ran straight to the porch, screaming “Greatest Showman! Greatest Showman!”
So we watched the Greatest Showman.
About half way through the movie, Boopity took me by the hand and pulled me into the little bedroom where they sleep when they’re here. I hadn’t set up their pack-n-play beds yet. She looked around the room and said “Where the beds?”
Boop joined us and we set up their beds. I asked them if they were ready for night night and they both grinned and nodded. I finally looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly 11:00!! Time flies when you’re having fun!
Everyone went potty (they’re totally trained now: no accidents at all), got into their pajamas (Boopity thinks she can dress herself) and then we said prayers and everyone got into bed. I turned off the light and closed the door.
They spent the next hour laughing and playing by diving head first into each other’s bed. I finally had to move one of the beds into my bedroom, where Boop, left to herself, was asleep within minutes. I had to sit with Boopity and rub her back to get her to sleep. By the time I was sure she was out cold, it was 1:00 am. I was asleep about three minutes later.
Normally, the both sleep until around 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning. I figured after a wild night of partying, they’d sleep late but I was WRONG.
Boop woke up at 6:00 and was rarin’ to go.
Boopity was up less than an hour later.
I didn’t have the energy to do much beyond drink coffee and read A Fly Went By eight or nine times while they played all morning.
We had toast for breakfast and a big lunch at 11, which felt like 4 in the afternoon. The girls insisted on cleaning up after lunch themselves. They think they know how brooms work. (they don’t )
We ended up the morning in my bed, taking a “nap” that was suspiciously like hide and seek under the covers. In fact, they had so much fun with that, that I put them both in a pack-n-play and covered it with a blanket. They thought that was great fun and I liked it too.
Their parents picked them up around noon.
I don’t remember the rest of Saturday. I know I fell asleep trying to watch The Death of Stalin after dinner.