The Events of Thursday, March 3, 2011

                  Today was a social day, so before any of our relatives arrived, we started early and packed our bathroom bags and bathroom suitcase. Because of the airport rules, we are using one of our larger pieces of luggage to transport our bathroom supplies and fluids. That means we will have to check it as well as another large suitcase with books, extra clothes, jackets, and hats. Then, we had to pack up a 5 month supply of toothpaste, mouthwash, toothbrushes, hairdo dads, first aid kits, medicines, and other bathroom junk into one of the suitcases that we will be checking. We weighed it … 51 pounds. The weight limit for US airlines is 50 pounds only and the overweight fees are at the lowest $60. But, we decided to deal with the weight problem later and move on to our other checked suitcase. We picked out books that most of us haven’t read, so that we can pass them around and they’ll last us for the five months we will be spending in Europe. After adding some other hats and clothes, we weighed this one … 60 pounds! We put off the weight problem until later. All of this hustle and bustle was interrupted by Mom’s dermatologist telling her that everything is fine and her mole was not cancerous, just an irritated growth. But, then it was back to work.

                  Since, we can only take limited fluids on the plane with us, we packed Ziploc quart sized baggies with travel sized toothpaste, toothbrushes, lotion, hand sanitizer, and lip balm. Those baggies will be in our backpacks. A little while later, our Aunt Pat (my mom’s twin sister), 2-year-old Timothy, and 13 month old Claire came to hang out and have lunch with us. We played little kid games and took pictures with our cousins and aunt, and ate a yummy lunch. They left around two and we had a little more time to pack … until, Aunt Jennifer and her dog Bronwyn arrived.

                  Aunt Jennifer (my dad’s younger sister) and Bronwyn live in Lake Tahoe, so this visit was a real treat. Since we don’t often get to see her, the two hours Aunt Jennifer had with us went by very fast, but they were fun. We showed her pictures and caught up, since the last time we saw her was in Williamsburg, around Christmastime. All too soon, she had to leave, and just as she hopped into her car, our Grandpa and Grandma (my dad’s parents) showed up. We got to show them the 100 prints we recently got from Costco from different parts of our trip and chatted. Grandma had brought her world famous chocolate chip, nut, and oatmeal cookies. Mom said she had to make sure they were not poisonous and soon we had finished off half of the batch! They were staying to go out to dinner with us, so we got a little more time to spend with them and pack.

                  “Hello, are you Jim?” the waiter at Macaroni Grill questioned Abby. Abby sputtered, “No, that’s my dad.” Oh, sorry. We sat down for an elegant Italian dinner full of the delicious Macaroni Grill bread (we ate 12 loaves), and lots of fun. I made up my mind to have the most exotic meal available and so when our drinks arrived, my parents looked a little confused as I took a sip out of a very tall, skinny glass. If you ever go to Macaroni Grill, you have to try their Blackberry Italian soda! It’s sooooo good! After a yummy dinner, Daddy whispered to our waiter that we were celebrating my mom’s birthday (which was partly true, just a few days late), so they brought out a warm chunk of chocolate cake with oozing chocolate fudge at the center and chocolate icing dripping from the pool on top. All of the waiters gathered around and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her in Italian.

                  We said good-bye to Grandma and Grandpa in the parking lot and drove home. All of the kids went to bed (we still have not gotten back into California time), Daddy worked a little on the computer and Mom waited up for our next guest. A guest arrived a lot earlier than the one we were expecting and weakly whispered to Mom, “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but my stomach does not feel good. I think I’m going to throw up.” To which Mom answered, “Then, get to the toilet!” Poor Abby had eaten too much bread and Mom spent the next 45 minutes cleaning the bathroom.

                  Our expected guest did arrive around 11:30 pm and Uncle Scott (my mom’s younger brother) and Mom chatted a while before both heading to bed.