Babymoon and Preschool

We've had quite the relaxed few days, Tim and I. Meanwhile, Mimi and Pa were nearly run ragged by their little granddaughter. They have discovered that she basically has two speeds - running, and still. It goes along with her two volumes - talking, and asleep.

It was really wonderful on our end though! Mimi and Pa generously let us drop Ellie off Friday night, even though we had nowhere to be. Just to be able to wake up on Saturday and not have to get her fed and dressed and off to Yorba Linda made the day seem so much more relaxed. Friday night I drove home in traffic, listening to MY music instead of Raffi or Miss Elena songs, and then we had dinner out and rented a movie. Then Saturday we grabbed brunch and drove down to our hotel. We'd talked about all of the stuff we might do in San Diego, but after walking around for awhile in the 80 degree weather, I turned into a pregnant, swollen pumpkin and had to suck down a bunch of ice water in order to wrench my jewelry off my fat, fat fingers. And that night my flats felt too tight, just walking to and from dinner! That's what I get for bragging about how much better I feel than I did at the end with Ellie. In the end though, it was just what Tim and I needed. We lounged in our very nice hotel room, watched TV, chatted about the baby and just relaxed, knowing we won't be able to waste time like that for yeeeeeeeeears to come (but we'll have two beautiful children, so we can't really complain.) We had a very nice dinner out and then had cocktails (mocktails for me) in the hotel bar, listening to live music. And then we slept in!

I did a lot of sleeping. Sunday morning we got up late, had breakfast, and then I slept the entire drive home from San Diego, said hi to the cats and climbed into our bed for a two hour nap. I guess I'm trying to stuff in all the REM while I still can. The cats were frantic about us being gone - there was a lot of yeowling, some revenge peeing on the carpet, and just generally being butts. They are crotchety old animals, not like the young 'uns we used to ditch probably two weekends out of the month with an extra bowl of food and an admonition to behave.

Meanwhile, Ellie, Mimi and Pa had many adventures:

Making breakfast!

And lunch as well! Peeling oranges that she picked right from Mimi and Pa's tree

Going to the lake to feed the ducks

Plus some excellent fun in the wading pool!

She was happy to see us when we arrived, but when we tried to take her home she informed us that she wanted to stay at Mimi and Pa's FOREVER! But, they made us take her home.

This morning was our first real day of preschool. We got up with enough time to hang around the house for a bit, had a good breakfast, and then I took Ellie to school, arriving just as they were getting ready to go out to the play ground. I gave her a hug and a kiss, told her I'd be back, and let Miss Laurie pry E's hands from my neck. I just went to the gym, because it needed to be done, and it's only 5 minutes away, so I figured if they needed me, it'd be easy to get back to school. I kept checking my phone, but no emergency calls came. I came home and ate and showered, and then went back at 11:30, figuring that if she was happy, I'd go grab a coffee and come back at pick up time, but she was standing at the door to the play ground crying, and they suggested I take her home with me, which I was fine with. Rome wasn't built in a day. The teachers said she'd done well once she got engaged and that they thought she could stay through lunch next time. When I asked Ellie what she'd done, she told me that she'd cried, she fell outside, and she didn't like preschool. NICE WORK, NEGATIVE NANCY! While I don't doubt that she did indeed cry and fall, I will choose to believe the adults that she did not have a miserable time.