Now I Kind of Get It

Our five and a half year old niece, Kaila, came for a visit this weekend. She and her doting Aunt Em and Uncle Gideon, as well as cousin Josie, had been looking forward to this weekend ever since it was planned 4 weeks ago. But now I think I know who was really counting down the days... Kaila's mom, Angie. Why? Because she is a mom, and moms need breaks! How do I know this, since I am not yet a mom? Well, because Kaila came for a visit this weekend. And I am tired. Don't get me wrong... it was a fun-filled, wonderful visit. But I am tired.
Here is a list of what we did this weekend:
* Met Kaila at the Shady Grove metro station. Rode the metro back to town. We had the whole metro car to ourselves for at least 4 stops--excellent for sprinting and swinging on the bars. Kaila also read aloud a book called I Ain't Gonna Paint No More. I highly recommend it to all!
* Made peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches for lunch--all out of jelly. Oops, what a shame.
* Walked to the International Children's Festival. Well, Gideon and I walked; Kaila rode on Uncle Gideon's shoulders. At the festival, we visited displays from many different countries with activities created just for kids, such as crafts to make, games or musical instruments to play, or clothing to try on. We also watched Irish dancers and Rwandan jump dancers.

* Grocery shopped at the brand new Harris Teeter. Ate our way through the store. Whose idea was it to have free samples of sushi, cheese, pineapple and ribs (yes, ribs!)?! I would love to thank him or her!

* Made a cake for Sunday's Mother's Day celebration. Main ingredient? Nutella. Yeaaa.

* Took Josie to the dog park and practiced throwing frisbees and big sticks.

* Pulled out all of Aunt Emily's arts and crafts supplies. Made many Mother's Day cards, and a big fat mess.

* Ate tuna fish sandwiches for dinner--Kaila's life-long obsession (that actually started in the womb).
* Played a fierce game of checkers with Uncle Gideon, followed by Scrabble.

* Snuggled with Josie and let her lick Kaila's face for a good while.

* Dragged our sorry, exhausted butts to bed at 8:45. OMG. So. Tired.
* Woke up ready to go at 6:45am.
* Made pancakes and bacon for breakfast--specially requested by Kaila.
* Visited a really, really, really run-down house... a possible project for Uncle Gideon and Aunt Emily to take on.

* Ate an Italian lunch with PapPap and Aunt Debbie.
* Went to a couple of open houses.
* Drove out to Lovettesville... getting lost on the way. Had a farty-sound-making-contest in the car to amuse ourselves on the two hour drive.
* Celebrated with the moms at Ahh-Pa's house with corn-on-the-cob and more ribs!
* Returned Kaila to her rightful owner.

So, all that in about 30 hours or so. I really didn't know I had it in me.
Moms and dads everywhere, I salute you. I will take a long nap this afternoon in honor of you.