Preparing for our Vacation

I called Fine Care and cancelled yesterday. About an hour later, Aunt Ruth called to say that she had spoken to Adele about scheduling coming to sleep over for some of the days that we will be away. She is a nervous driver, but agreed to undertake the ride so that she can get herself to the train station early in the morning to get to work. Adele agreed to follow her here from her house, about 40 minutes away, on Sunday, so that she is sure she will not get lost the first time. It really is a very easy route and only requires two turns that are unfamiliar to her. We spoke for an hour about all sorts of things, including aging friends and neighbors, modern technology, and food. I also spoke with my friend Roxy briefly, who is an avid reader of the blog and who (with a little help from Saul) commented to Samara's Corner yesterday. While we were speaking, she also had a chance to talk with Sami on the phone. Last night, I was supposed to call her and Aunt Ruth, but again, after bedtime for the girls, had no energy left.

We spent about two hours yesterday morning when I finished on the phone shopping at Costco and the supermarket. We had planned to have lunch at Costco. They have an incredible $1.50 giant kosher hot dog with all the trimmings, including unlimited fountain drinks. The girls also love the pizza. One dollar buys a huge pile of crispy french fries which we all share. Unfortunately, it was so crowded that there were no tables available. I spent a small fortune stocking up so that we would have lots of food in our apartment at the seashore, as well as providing food items that would be easy for Mom and Aunt Ruth to access and prepare. When we returned home, in between unpacking and putting away the groceries, we made the girls and Mom yoghurt smoothies and macaroni and cheese. We were hurrying to get everything squared away so that we could get to the swim club in time for clay. Sami loves working with clay! Just as we were about to leave, the skies opened up and it poured so hard that we realized it probably would make clay impossible even under the cover of the pavilion at the club. We put the girls in for naps and told them we would wake them if the sun came out. It did come out full and strong within 40 minutes. We woke them and made the 10-minute drive over to the club. There was only one family with lots of kids there when we arrived and no sign of clay activity. Amy said she would be available to give Sami her swimming lesson in about an hour when she was off duty. Saul, Sami and Izzy played in the pool for about one sunny hour. The clay teacher came and sat next to me after doing her laps and told me that when they were about to set up, it was raining so hard that no one wanted to get out of the car. The few families that had braved the gray skies to be there early yesterday left immediately when the rain began. After about an hour of sun, the skies darkened and we heard a large thunder clap. The lifeguards cleared the pool and deck of people and we rushed, soaking wet, to pack up and leave for home. Sami was not able to have a swimming lesson.

After showers and some t.v. time, Saul made some sauteed wild flounder for dinner and cleaned up the kitchen while I crashed on the sofa with some books. Sami wants to have a fairy-themed birthday party and I was looking through some old Wilton cake-decorating books from my catering days looking for ideas. When I finished with them, I began reading a book that Beth had lent Sami a few weeks ago about fairies, "Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book." I wonder if Beth has actually read the book because the subject matter is not really appropriate for a seven-year-old, although mostly the prurient stuff requires "reading between the lines." I know that Sami has avoided the book because the fairies are a bit scary-looking to her and definitely a whole different breed than Tinker Bell! I enjoyed the book very much, however, and it is just the type of thing that would be in Beth's library.

Now, the only things left to do are to make sure our bicycles are in working order, make sure we have all the bedding we need, and see that all our laundry is done so we are ready to pack up on Friday. After that, there is only the question of how to get everything into our SUV.