Laying Low?

Last week, as the Fourth of July approached, we looked forward to our first weekend of summer with NOTHING on the schedule with great anticipation. We refused to commit to anything unless it included sleeping late, going to the pool and simply wallowing in our excess of time. We got off to a good start on Saturday, sleeping in with no swim meet to go to at an obscenely early time. Bubble Boy treated the kids to a special breakfast of Belgian pancakes, his specialty in the kitchen. I did a few minor housekeeping duties, but nothing major. And then the call came in.

See, we were invited to a wedding in Dallas at 6 pm on Saturday. But I'd made the executive decision that we would not be attending this wedding because it was our first weekend without obligation in many moons. And while, yes, it would be lovely to see family we hadn't seen in years, I just couldn't refuse my body's instinct to crawl inside a cave. I was firm. In no uncertain terms I informed my mother, my father, my sister that No, we will NOT be attending. Y'all have fun. We'll see you in two weeks.

But some people have trouble taking No for an answer (why, yes! I am talking to YOU, Auntie!). I hate to admit it, but this might be where I got this tendency. My feelings of satisfied confidence in the correctness of my decision as I lazed around the house in my scrubby clothes at 2pm were still strong when that fateful phone call came in. We chatted a while about her fun 4th with friends on the lake and she double-checked whether I'd had any second thoughts about the wedding. I laughed. Nope. No second thoughts. Then Big E wanted to talk to her Auntie.

This turned out to be a wee bit of a mistake.

One hour later Big E and I were in the car, hurtling up I-35 to Dallas in our wedding finery. We missed the actual wedding but arrived at the hotel just in time for the reception. Big E hasn't had that many opportunities to attend weddings and that girl does love her a bride. What 9 year old doesn't? It's the closest thing we have to real live princesses. And then The Cousins! She didn't know she had ever SO MANY cousins! And it doesn't matter that she hasn't seen some of them in her life, some of them for a couple of years...they became fast, fast friends. There was eating, dancing and general merry-making until Big E literally collapsed into her bed in the early morning hours of Sunday.

And the fun doesn't stop there! A series of events beyond my control were set into motion Sunday morning that ended with Big E making the trip to Oklahoma with her persuasive Auntie, cousins and Mamaw and Papaw. It's been All Cousins, All The Time since then, with jet skiing, swimming, movies, and all-around fun morning 'til night.

I know she misses us though. She called just to ask if she could have a Dr. Pepper. I must miss her too. Because I said Yes.