… and what I did while I was gone!

Last week was especially busy for Wes. And when I say that, I mean that he said good night to the girls about ten minutes after they woke up every day. (Because that’s when he went to work. And he worked up until it was time for them to go back to sleep!) Every night there was a meeting, a dinner, a work night, etc. It’s great that Wes loves his job because apart from vacations when he physically goes across state lines, there is no break from work. I took the whole “state line” thing seriously this week and planned to make his two days off (Friday and Saturday) actual days off. What a wild idea!

We began Friday by dropping Ana off at school after a donut date with Papi. Ana had a rough time last week with some preschool girl drama. I can’t tell you for certain how it all unfolded because we never could get the whole story out of an easily distracted Ana, but I assure you that there were tears when another little girl in Ana’s class told her that she didn’t like her anymore. I’m pretty sure that it happened like it happens between the Sisters Faulk — someone gets mad, then gets mean, everyone cries, then two minutes later they’re laughing and singing songs together. Still, though, the sight of my tiny little sweetheart tearing up was heartbreaking. (Fortunately, the very next day when we picked her up she jumped in the car and shouted, “[Name of this particular student] is my friend again!” Well, there you go.)

After we dropped off Ana, we loaded Charlie into the backseat with Emma and drove him to the dog hotel (ie, the vet’s office). You would have been impressed with how Emma held his leash from her car seat, commanding him to “Lay down, Chaa-lee” when we made sharp turns. And you would be even more impressed that he obeyed her! He was weighed at check-in and now tips the scales at 75.5 pounds. Breed standard for a fully mature male GSD is between 75 and 95 pounds, so he’ll never qualify as underweight. It remains to be seen, however, how far away from underweight he will get since he’s still a puppy and isn’t done growing. Turns out everyone was right when they said he was on the big side as far as GSDs go!

Once Ana was done with school, we were off! Well… after stopping for a bathroom break. And then for lunch. And then again for another bathroom break. Just so you know, there are no quick trips with a three year old and a four year old. Eventually, though, we did make it out of town. Eventually.

We had kicked around a few different destinations but ended up going with Fort Worth because the drive wasn’t too long, we know the area well, and the girls would be able to stay with Gram and Gramps. Hey, we didn’t originally plan on spending the night away from the girls, but when there are grandparents close by and you can actually sleep in for the first time in forever… well, you just go with it. Which we did. We got into town in plenty of time to drop the girls off then go out to dinner. We decided on Pappsito’s, my once favorite restaurant. I say “once” because my last visit before this weekend had been during the worst part of my morning sickness with Ana, and it’s taken five years to muster up the courage to try again. It was MUCH better than my recent memory serves me and just as wonderful as it had been back when it was my favorite. (It just might be my favorite again!)

We stayed at the seminary for the night, then enjoyed time around the city for most of the day on Saturday. We picked the girls up and came back home Saturday evening. What a great weekend!

And now, we’re getting laundry done and getting Charlie back into his routine. The girls insisted on watching “Where the Red Fern Goes,” so that’s what they’re busy doing. I only hope they lose interest before the end of the movie because if I remember correctly, it doesn’t end well for the dogs.

Hope your week is off to a great start!