NOT getting on a plane to Florida on Saturday meant waking up to a long weekend full of NOTHING. NO WHERE to be. NO plans. No schedule. No obligations. It kind of felt like we were fugitives or ghosts or in the witness relocation program. When I tearfully broke the news to Pilot about NOT getting on a plane to go see Gramma Chris she said, "Ok. Can I go to ballet class?" Which was an amazing reality check. So we did. We went to ballet class and made tea and raked leaves and played all day long with our neighbours while sitting outside in amazing October sunshine eating our healthy airplane snacks. Dan cooked up a sweet potato chili TO DIE FOR. The girls napped. I NAPPED for the first time in years. Dan and I celebrated 4 awesome years of marriage in the most amazing + humble way - with the two small people that chose to join us. Quiet + humble. I say HUMBLE because there's nothing like a BIG MISTAKE to make you grateful for the ones who love you. EVEN when you're a bone head like me.
THE UNICORN. Our awesome friends Erin + Trevor were incredibly kind to take Crash + Norman at the last minute (they also cooked us dinner). When we arrived at their farm on Friday night to drop the dogs off the girls were ENAMOURED with their horses. ENAMOURED. Oh, I know that ALL girls love horses... but this was incredible. Reserved and quiet Penn could hardly contain herself. Their white mare trotted out of the bush to say hello and Pilot exclaimed shrieked at the top of her lungs, "A UNICORN!!!" GET. OUT. OF. TOWN! So on Sunday we visited Erin + Trevor again to pick up our mutts AND TAKE THEIR UNICORN FOR A SPIN. I thought the girls would be overwhelmed when it came time to get on an enourmous thundering horse...
But it was the opposite. They were smitten in the biggest way*. Brave little ladies out there. I don't know how the therapy-animal psychology works but Penn started talking in SENTENCES while around the horses. She said I LOVE YOU for the first time. She was glowing and glittering. Pilot was BURSTING with pride when she got to lead the unicorn and they have NOT STOPPED talking about it. They could have ridden that thing all day. It was enough to break this mama's heart in three pieces... mostly because they were so friggin' happy and we wouldn't have ended up here if we had ended up somewhere else.
* Dan's grandpa Kaz had three daughters and they loved horses. We will have three daughters, too. Their horse Shogun passed away along the same time as grandpa Kaz did and Kaz was on my mind all day. And so was Dan's grandma and his mom (who are very much alive). I wish all three of them could have been there to see how much of their blood was in these amazing little cowgirls. (I think grandpa Kaz was with us.) I am so sorry that we are missing out making memories with them.
Dan will MOST DEFINITELY need to figure out a way to get his ladies a Unicorn.
** BIG THANKS to Bunny the white mare and ESPECIALLY BIG + GUSHY THANKS to Erin + Trevor for taking our dogs and feeding us and letting us ride their horses and pop into their lives like multiplying jack-in-the-boxes when connecting should be more of a regular thing. THANK YOU for the love you showed us. THANK YOU.
BIG THANKS to Tammy + Jared for joining us for our spontaneous Thanksgiving dinner. I am not ashamed to admit that I ORDERED Thanksgiving dinner FROM BOON BURGER. It was AMAZING. It was vegan so no turkeys were harmed in the making of our meal! It was one of my top three Thanksgiving dinners of all time. Our new table was christened with laughter + old friends. I didn't start any fires or splash anyone in the face with salad dressing either. SO THANKFUL!
Maybe there's something to this passport to no where.
Today: It's a holiday. We're going to continue our STAY-cation and soak up as much as we can. Brunch with wonderful relatives! Maybe we will find a passport leprechaun so we can rebook our flights. ;)
To be continued...
