The Holiday Weekend

This past weekend was the perfect example as to why we purchased a seasonal second home.  We knew that once school started back up, completely free weekends would be rare. While the Cape is beautiful and can be enjoyed year round, the additional cost in purchasing and maintaining a non-seasonal residence didn't seem worthwhile to us right now.

 

The girls did not have school on Friday because of the Veterans Day holiday, but Rich had to work.  I had delayed calling the pediatrician to set up flu shots, partly because it had been so warm here and hadn't felt like the beginning of flu season, and partly because I was having difficulty in figuring out a convenient time.  (And maybe partly because I'm not a fan of vaccinations.  I weigh the pros and cons with each one over and over.)  It looked like my best bet was either first thing in the morning and bring them to school late, or release them from school early one day.  Emily freaked out over this because it would mess up her perfect attendance, which really is her own thing.  There aren't any awards, etc. for it.  Then they complained because someone has dance every day, so there was grumbling over having a sore arm for dance.

The best I could do was Friday morning.  This way, there was no impact on school.  There was complaining over the fact that they had to dance Saturday morning in the local Veterans Day parade and their arms would be sore.  Right after they had their shots, which thankfully no one flipped out over this year, they were told to move their arms around.  Their arms would hurt less if they kept using/moving them.  Anna had a play date that afternoon and she complained the least about her arm.  (I'm seriously considering play dates for all next year.)  Allie had dance later in the day, and while she experienced some discomfort, she was able to get through class.  Emily, on the other hand, refused to move her arm all day and could barely get dressed Saturday morning.

Our local Veterans Day Parade is a small but meaningful affair.  Originally, all of the dance teams were set to march in the parade, like they do for the Memorial Day Parade, but it was changed to dancing a few weeks ago.  So I have Emily with a sore arm, who can barely get dressed, and she's making herself nervous over having to dance.  Boston went from record warmth to record cold here and the real feel temperature Saturday morning was 22 degrees.  I think that 90% of the parade spectators had someone in the parade.  Really, no one noticed that her arm was barely mobile.



I, of course, had grand plans for photographs galore but it was just too freaking cold. Because the parade route was fairly empty and we weren't sure exactly where they were going to dance, Grammy and I decided to walk alongside the girls.  I ended up helping to hold the banner when they were dancing and was able to see them dance both times.  The dance teams are lined up with the senior dance company in front, which means that my kids were in the back (out of 5) rows.  After they danced, as were we walking past a group of older folks, I heard an elderly gentleman say, "Oh look, they've got those little ones there in the back."

Saturday afternoon, Anna went home with Grammy for a sleepover, Allie had two friends over and I brought Emily, aka Crystal Gayle, to my stylist for a hair cut.  Her hair was well beyond her waist and after the removal of several inches, now sits at about her waist.








What happens when your sister's friend asks what you're doing.

I had dinner with friends Saturday night and then Sunday was all about errands.  Today, we're back to business as usual.  School, homework, dinner, dance.

This next photo pretty much sums up this past week in New England.


Pansies covered in frost.  We went from late summer to winter in a matter of days.