i have to settle for watching Britney's train wreck of a performance on YouTube today, because i went to bed at 8 o'clock last night.
it wasn't because of the 5K (which, by the way, was great). no, i was in bed last night at 8 o'clock because i spent most of Saturday with my two favorite bananas, Scott and Henry. the annual PBA picnic was in the afternoon, which my aunt and uncle so kindly invited me to - mostly so they'd have a convenient babysitter and could go to the annual block party that night kid-free. (quite clever, my aunt and uncle.)
anyway, of course i was more than happy to have an excuse to hang with the boys. i know now that if i ever have kids of my own, i will love them as crazily and madly as parents say they love their kids, because that's pretty much how i feel about Scott and Henry. they truly amaze me. Scott knows every dance move from High School Musical 2 - plus all the words to the songs and all the dialogue - and Henry, who isn't two for another month, speaks in sentences! we were down by the lake at one point, watching the ducks, and suddenly we heard barking in the distance. he turned to me and said, "was that a dog?" i nearly fell over. he might as well have recited the law of gravity. maybe i'm easily impressed, but still - i think he's a genius.
anyway. the PBA picnic was a fun time, but a much harder workout than the race yesterday. you see, they had a Super Slide set up - you remember those things, right? you climb up all the steps and then fling yourself down on a burlap sack? Henry - because he saw Scott doing it - wanted to give it a whirl. so up we went, him and me and the burlap sack, up the narrow stairs, to the tippy top with a dozen other kids all clambering to get down the slide first. PS: this was around four o'clock in the afternoon, i hadn't had anything to eat since seven o'clock in the morning, and it was ungodly hot and i've got an almost-two year old in my sweaty, slippery arms many feet up in the air. oh dear god. i was the opposite of graceful, maneuvering the sack onto the slide, then propping both myself and Henry on top of it. it involved a lot of grunting and flailing around - and a lot of silent prayers that i wouldn't accidentally send Henry down the slide without me.
but the trips down were worth all the struggling - first of all, i'm sorry, i don't care how old you are, Super Slides are awesome. and second of all, to hear Henry giggling all the way, and to see his big smile when we made it to the bottom - priceless. then he would grab my hand and lead me right back to the stairs, back up to the tippy top again. (this went on for about two dozen trips before i confessed to my aunt that i was on the verge of passing out from hunger and it was in the best interest of her children - and her chances of getting to the block party that night - to lead me to the food.)
a couple hours later, Magic Larry arrived. oh yes, Magic Larry. he was...a magician. he was...really cheesy. but, the kids loved him. Scott and i arranged ourselves on a towel on the grass to watch the show, and a few minutes later a little girl neither of us knew plopped herself down between us. she proceeded to make herself quite comfortable, snuggling up against me, beaming up at me as if to say, "isn't this great?" i wondered for a second if she had mistaken me for someone she knew - say, her mother - but no. she was just one of those kids who will grow up to be one of those adults with boundary issues.
anyway, Magic Larry spotted me amongst the wee ones, and played to me a little during his schtick, as if we grown-ups understood magic humor on a whole different level than the kids, wink-wink. meanwhile, i was wondering if he actually went to college for drama and this was the end result. or if he aspired to be in Cirque de Soleil but this was the best he could do. anyway, the kids loved the show - and the animal (and gun and sword and all manner of violent instruments) balloons he made afterward. but the piece de resistance was when Magic Larry finally left for the evening. my aunt and uncle and i were out by the parking lot with the kids and some other people, and Larry was saying his goodbyes. then he looked at me and said, "and thanks for being such a good sport, Mom, sitting there with the kids!" my aunt and uncle got quite a laugh out of that, while i buried my face in my hands. Mom!? earlier that afternoon Scott's little friend Michelle had guessed that i was fourteen. in six hours i went from fourteen to forty! yeah, just keep twisting your balloons, Magic Larry.
moving on... back at home, the High School Musical 2 Dance-Along was on TV - and let me tell you, it was a big event. even i was up learning some of the moves. (stop laughing.) it wasn't over until almost ten-thirty, and by then everyone was tired. little Henry was actually over-tired, sitting zombie-like on the couch, eating chocolate Teddy Grahams on auto pilot (pick up cookie, insert in mouth, pick up next cookie, etc) but every time i came near him to take him to bed he'd put his hands up in front of him and say, "STOP!" even as his eyelids were dropping, he was protesting, "stopppppp." of course, as soon as i put him in his crib he collapsed and fell instantly asleep when his head hit the mattress. even Scotty - he of the Energizer Bunny genes - was asleep before midnight.
and me, i felt great until my drive home yesterday afternoon. that's when the bone-tiredness set in and i wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep for two days. because, even though i can still climb a Super Slide and learn new dance moves and then run a 5K, i really am (alas) closer to forty than fourteen.
wait. OH MY GOD. stopppppppp!
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