Like Old Times

So I opted to not attend my sisters bachelorette event this past weekend, despite having respite for the little ones. I worried about taking my van on the journey because I didn’t want to worry about having it towed home. I worried about the amount of money it would have cost since it was two nights in an Airbnb, the gas for the drive, food, a spa treatment, and a winery tour. Not to mention the social tensions since I don’t really know any of the other girls all that well and I don’t particularly like the other bridesmaid. Sigh. I feel bad about not going, but I think ultimately it was the best decision for me.

 

Since we were sans kids, Primero and I made the most of our weekend together. Friday night we took Chica Marie to see Finding Dory, while Love bug was with the other foster family. When we drove back to drop Chica Marie off the foster mom mentioned having a hard time with Love Bug because he cried all the time and wanted to be held. She had him sleeping on blankets in the living room when we got there. It was hard to leave him with his sweet little sleeping face turned towards me, but we did. Chica Marie also reacted by clinging to me when Primero and I tried to leave. She rarely does this, so I think it was mostly because she was tired, but it has been some time since they spent the night at another foster home, so I guess she was just worked up about it. She was a handful for the other family, being defiant and speaking rudely to the other members of the family. Usually she is good in respite but I had forgotten to pack her meds, so she was probably feeling off. And I feel really terrible about that!

 

Saturday morning Primero and I got up early to wait in line at the DMV for him to take his second permit test. We were there for around 2 hours before he was finally able to take the test and pass, thankfully! We celebrated by getting brunch at our local diner. Then, we drove, I mean Primero drove, us to the orchard to pick strawberries so my parents can make strawberry jelly (this is how we work it out – I pick the berries and they make the jelly!). We dropped the berries off at the market with my dad and my mom was there too so we visited for a bit.

 

The night before Primero had talked to Esperanza and wanted her to spend the day with us, but she struggles with insomnia and didn’t fall asleep until 5 in the morning. He spoke with her while we were at the market and she said she needed a ride to work, since that had been our plan and she had no other way of getting there. I agreed and we set off to visit the local art on the avenue event. Primero drove and was having trouble getting into the parking space. We were having a minor disagreement over his parking abilities when Esperanza called. She said she didn’t need a ride to work because she wasn’t going in. She needed to help her sister (on her dad’s side, so not a sibling related to Primero) because her boyfriend was abusing her again. We offered to pick Esperanza up to take her to her sister’s place but by the time we got there the issue had been resolved. So Esperanza came over to spend the night, bringing her little kitten with her.

 

We took Esperanza to work and ran some more errands, including getting Primero a haircut, finding a new purse for me, and getting some new summer clothes for both of us. Soon it was time to pick up Esperanza and Primero had planned for us to play laser tag or ride go-carts at a local place that offers both restaurant and night club, plus an arcade, go-karts and new trampoline area. I wasn’t too keen on going to the arcade after dinner, but it turned out to be So. MUCH. FUN! I found a GIANT Fruit Ninja game and plunked myself down to play several matches. I then challenged my former beer pong skills at an eerily similar game called Sink it. I found Primero and Esperanza playing Deal or No Deal and we got so into the game (I won 101 tickets but my brief case had 200 tickets!) we were cheering like maniacs! The kids played some motorcycle came while I killed at Skeeball. And then they talked me into this 3D zombie movie/game which scared the holy Hannah outta me! But, it was FUN! We cashed in our tickets and I let Primero drive part of the way home, after stopping off at Wawa for some drinks and grabbing a Redbox movie.

 

Sunday morning we went out to brunch with my dad then went to the pool for a bit before taking Esperanza to work and then picking up the kids. Primero and I noted how often we talk about the kids and miss them when they aren’t around and yet how we often times wish for them to go away when we are with them! We caught ourselves talking about the little ones while picking strawberries on Saturday and pondered why we tended to mention them when they weren’t around. Love Bug was very anxious to see me and he babbled to me the whole ride home. Chica Marie was also happy to be back home, but not on her best behavior. We didn’t have much time with them Sunday night before they needed to get to bed, but I did get some extra Love Bug snuggles before he zonked out.

 

After Esperanza had left, Primero commented on how good it was to spend time with her. “Like old times,” he said. I agreed it was nice to have her over and said I hope we could continue to do that over the summer. Primero still worries about his sister after everything that happened. I know he wishes things could truly go back to how they are, so I’m trying to show him how the new normal could also work. He knows I encourage him to spend time with his siblings and I include them whenever I can. I was glad we had such a nice time together and I do truly hope the fun times can continue this summer.  

 

All-in-all it was a pretty great weekend!