Weekend 3-Way: Parental Visitation

Mom and Dad are coming today! Actually, they're here. Visiting us!

My parents get around. They spent Easter in San Diego with Jacquie and her Bill and their kids and went on a cruise to Mexico. My nephew is, quite literally, still reeling from that adventure.

They spent last weekend in Chicago -- our sister Jane's oldest was the star of a middle school production and was, by all accounts -- including accounts made by audience members who are not her parents or grandparents -- awesome. The words amazing, lovely, poised, stunning, outstanding, and beautiful were thrown around. Her voice was like an angel and she just took your breath away got heard, too.

Mom and Dad got to see our sister Ann when they were in Chi-town too, see Mary Beth and Mark Dowd regularly -- they're going to see them tomorrow, in fact -- and get down to Asheville NC to see Julie and her family quite often. They drive to Asheville, which is like a 47-hour drive. Okay, 13 hours. Well, for them. It takes the Westy at least 2 days to get there.

Anyway.

Today? They're here. Even though we have no grandchildren for them to gush over, and even though -- perhaps more importantly -- we have no TV for them to watch, they're visiting us. Because they rock. But because we have neither chitlins nor TV, we need to come up with a strategy for full-on fun.

So. The Question. Parental Visitation. When your parents or your mom comes to visit, what's the plan?

Ellie:

Children? TV? Who needs 'em? After my mom finishes her conference and my dad and I finish our couple of small lighting fixture projects, there is only one thing to do: Happy hour on the sunny deck on the most spectacular day of the year.

And then? Well, today is the Kentucky Derby, my friends. And Mom and Dad and Billy-Boy and I are heading straight to the Tavern to watch it. We'll pick horses out of a hat and one of us will undoubtedly win it all. My Irish mom says there's only one horse for her: Paddy O'Something. And there's only one horse for me, too. When there's a filly in a race, I root for her. Girl Power and all that. Johnny Slips and I already picked our horses; he picked the filly and I picked Awesuuuume Act and he traded with me. I know! That's a win-win!

Go Devil May Care!

Jacquie:

One of the few great things about living far away from our parents is that visits are such a special event! We’ve been seeing both sets of grandparents a couple of times each year lately, which we intend to keep up! When my parents are set to visit, it’s important to prepare my colon. You see, we will eat nothing but Mexican for the duration of their stay. Now my dad is not too proud to order a hamburguesa, but I would not dream of such travesty. So whenever mom and dad are in town, it’s a bean fueled foos-ville of joy.

Bill’s parents have a favorite seafood joint in town, and we delight in a trip down to the harbor every time they come. So yeah, it’s all about food. At least in terms of planning when the ‘rents come to town. But as we’ve established time and time again, it’s the quiet moments that truly inspire our memories. That and the hotel swimming pools.

Beth
Well, Ellie, isn't this timely?! My mom is in town this very moment. Yes, she flew in from St. Petersburg, Florida, Thursday night, and will be staying right here with us until Monday morn.

This visit, it's all about the dance. That's right. It's a big competition weekend for my oldest. The first weekend that she'll perform both her jazz and hip hop numbers in front of the judges. These competitions are other worldy, to put it lightly. It's a whole parallel universe. But that's a story for another day....

So, we're off to watch the dances today, after watching dance classes last night, and sending one of the girls off to dance class just hours after Nonnie arrived on Thursday night as well.

But tomorrow? Tomorrow is all about the pool.