Pancakes and lions and cars, oh my!

I wasn't sure I was going to have a blog this weekend as the older girls are with my parents until tomorrow, but I should have known better. I spent today catching up on sleep as the baby would allow, running and working a party that wound up involving some situations far above my pay grade. And I get to go back tomorrow!

When I left the girls last night they were so excited they could barely say goodbye to me. The prospect of new pajamas, pizza for dinner and Ring Pops (candy and jewelry and food dye!) was far more interesting than anything I had to offer. (Leftovers! No TV! The same old bedtime!)

Today they apparently woke up bright and early and ate their blueberry pancakes with gusto. Then Mom tells me they went to the playground, where Anna made short work of a rock climbing wall and then wandered off to drive the big pretend car on the other end of the playground. Mom looked over and saw Anna with one hand on the wheel, looking over her shoulder to the empty backseat and shaking her little right index finger.

"Quiet! Quiet back there!"

Mother of the year? Why thank you! All the while Skipper the deaf West Highland Terrier was following Mary around the playscape, climbing stuff after her and apparently getting stuck on platforms. I have no comment.

From there it was a hike in the woods and home for a snack and a nap. By this time it was well past normal nap time and Mary was handling that perfectly, which of course means not at all. She wanted to take a collective six million toys and books to bed with her, which was a big negative from Mimi. Which Mary handled about as well as you'd expect.

"My MUDDER lets me take toys and books to bed!" (Yeah, no.)

"So if I called your mommy right now she would tell me that?" Mary decided to split the odds.

"Well, maybe," she sniffled.

"Let's just go to bed, Mary."

"MAYBE YOU SHOULD CALL MY MUDDER!" And with that she flipped herself under the sheet, refused to come out and fell asleep for the next two hours. Anna, who generally seems to run on no sleep, sugar and daydreams, was also out cold.

When I called after work they were just settling down for The Lion King (optimistically called "theatre night" at Casa Mimi) and popcorn. They'll probably be up until 9 p.m. at this rate.

Well, what are grandparents for?