Into the North and Senior Bash

The whirlwind continues.

On Friday after work (at the College, we get out at noon on Fridays), I picked up the kids and we traveled north for a much needed visit to see Mom. She's been in the nursing home for several months now and my Auntie is there as well, so we were able to have a nice visit with both of them. 

Mom is always a little confused when I just "appear" in front of her - I'm not part of her every day life and she has a hard time understanding the context of me just walking up and saying hello. Where did I come from? When did I get there? And I think it also takes a second or two to know that it's me. She hadn't seen the kids in a while so she really didn't know who they were, but when we told her I think it was also hard for her to believe how grown up they are. Although it hasn't been all that long since she's seen them, with their busy lives they don't come along for visits as much as they used to, so it's been a while. She's pretty confused and is in the wheel chair most of the time, but otherwise looks very good - clean, healthy and well taken care of.

We got up early on Saturday morning to head home and get situated before Annalisse's Senior Bash on Saturday night. The kids started the bash at 5pm by going to Minerva Deland (the school that houses 9th grade), and boarding school buses for a tour of all the "old haunts" - the elementary and middle schools. As Mark and I were walking Jasper we heard sirens and horns beeping so we rushed to the corner and made it just in time to see all the schools buses going by on their way back to the high school. We waved excitedly, the kids were all screaming with excitement. It was so awesome. I texted Annalisse to see if she saw us, and she did...

I got choked up at the time, and am getting choked up just writing this. It's going to be a tough emotional week. 

Around 8pm, Mark and I headed to the high school to help with the Senior Bash (a '70s theme). We were assigned to the prize table, and our task was mainly to answer any questions about the prizes the students could win with the tickets from the casino games. The bash had something for everyone: the aforementioned casino games, a psychic, a "coffee house" with acoustic music, a DJ, volleyball, badminton, tatoos, food/drink, bouncy houses, a caricaturist, great prizes, and the main attraction: a hypnotist. The kids were howling with laughter as they watched their classmates do goofy things, such as dancing like ballerinas in the aisle of the auditorium. I think the kids were surprised about how much fun the bash was considering it was planned by (boring) parents!!

On Sunday, Mark and I went grocery shopping then prepared for a delicious Father's Day cookout with Grandma Pat and Nic and Patrick. The weather started out soggy (again) but by the afternoon had cleared into a beautiful, although cool, early summer day.

The weekends are too short. The last several have been outstanding with fun stuff going on and not enough time. Soon enough it's Monday again and this week, in particular, will be a very special one starting with a trip to Mercyhurst on Monday for Annalisse's academic orientation, graduation on Thursday, a groom for Jasper on Friday and a graduation party on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, the kids head to camp for a week of training.