Back in the Saddle Again

Well, Auntie K is back from her trip, and here's the report. Probably in more detail than you desire!

I had a great time this weekend visiting with Brother #2 and his Lovely Wife, and playing with Adorable Niece #3 (not to be confused with Adorable Niece #1 or Adorable Niece #2).

Said family moved from a tiny apartment to a house, and it was fun to watch Curly (aka Niece #3) enjoy her new freedom. Free from confining baby-gates and an off-limits kitchen, Curly now enjoys opening and shutting the kitchen drawers, running back and forth between the living room and her bedroom, and opening and closing her bedroom door.

The trip's agenda was thus:

Thursday: 10:15 am departure. Not quite as early as I hoped, but I don't know anyone in my family besides my dear Redd grandparents who ever leave on a trip a) at the crack of dawn or b) at the time they say they will. I was pretty proud of 10:15, given that 8:00 was the ETD. 2 hrs and 15 minutes is not too long of a delay.

Thursday, continued: 1:30 pm arrival. Helped pack items from the kitchen, admired Curly, chatted with Lovely Sister-in-Law. After supper LS-i-l and I watched the Lost season finale she had videotaped the night before, so we could discuss it with each other. Brother #2 only enters into Lost discussions in order to make fun, so LS-i-l was eager to talk it over with a real fan. After the break, more packing, then Brother and I took two carloads of things to the new house. We got back to the apartment at about midnight.

Friday: The movers arrived at 9:00 am, at which time Curly and I fled the scene and hung out at the park for a while. Curly's favorite activity at the park involved walking up and down the concrete steps, one hand on the rail and one hand on Auntie K. We returned to the apartment right as the movers were headed out for the house, so the whole family packed up various cars and headed to the house as well, where Curly and Auntie K ate lunch and took a little nap. That afternoon, Brother and I made one more trip to and from the apartment for some more packing and hauling. Once he got the DVD player up and running, and Curly and LS-i-l had gone to bed, Brother and I engaged in some quality sibling bonding by watching a Seinfeld episode (The Pen).

Saturday: Curly and I hung out at home while her parents did some shopping and went back up to the apartment. We had fun reading Teletubbies books, taking a nap (of course), and playing with all of Curly's toys. Saturday night, LS-i-l's brother came in town for a visit and ate dinner with us, after which I took a trip to Target. I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms, and didn't think I could wait until this week to get my Target fix.

Sunday: Everyone went to church, of course. Curly was very well-behaved. It was a bit of a shock to Auntie K to have to attend Sunday School and Relief Society (the women's meeting), since she is used to missing those meetings to be in Primary (children's Sunday School). After church and a filling lunch, everyone took naps of varying lengths (naps are big in our family). Once everyone had awoken, and we spent some time chatting and snapping photos, I departed for home at about 5 pm, arriving sometime after 8:30 pm.

All in all, it was a lovely trip, despite the packing and moving activities. And now, on Monday afternoon, I'm back at work, back to the computer, back to blogging, back to that l-o-n-g to do list...