runlindsayrun

The One Where We Survive High School Graduation

There is a very good reason why high school only lasts until you are 17 or 18. It's so that you still have the stamina to survive the celebration when you graduate. Gaah. I'm not that old, but I'm certainly too old for this.

We spent the better part of Friday playing chaffeur to Miss Hannah. I'm not complaining - it was very cool to get to be a part of her big day. After a slow start to our morning, we took her to pick up her corsage and then to her hair appointment. While she was getting all prettied up, we met Joanne and Marilyn for lunch - they'd been decorating at the hall all morning - and then went back to pick up Hannah and bring her to her pictures at the park. Then it was a quick trip back to Al & Joanne's to get changed and cleaned up, and then back downtown for the dinner at 5 pm.

The dinner was really nice. It was a pretty big crowd for only 29 graduates, but it made all the speeches and everything so personal - and they had the whole hall done up to match their Hollywood Red Carpet theme. It was a fun day, but it was a LONG day. By the time we got back to Al & Joanne's, I was pretty much cooked.

There was no mistaking Hannah's grand return to the house around 9 am on Saturday after a night of parties and paintball. It's absolutely part of her charm, but that girl is LOUD... She was determined to stay awake, so a group of us loaded up and headed into downtown Kamloops to check out their Farmers Market and a bunch of the shops on the main shopping street. By the time we were done lunch, Hannah was done, and it became a rush to get her back home and into bed.

The afternoon was pretty quiet. I spent some time with Joanne and Ruth, then went on a walk to the grocery store with Marilyn and Geoff. There was a little bit of drama in the afternoon when David begged Geoff to buy him more Transformers toys and Geoff - much to my surprise and delight - said no. Unfortunately, it wasn't a straight no. It was an 'Auntie Lindsay will get mad if I do' kind of no. We'll work on that. My displeasure at being used in such a manner was not very subtle :)

The whole family enjoyed a barbecue together before Joanne left for work (she is also a nurse). Then after a walk with Al, David, Geoff, Marilyn, and the dog, we all crowded into the rec room to watch a movie that Libby had picked out.

There is also a reason why pregnant young couples don't give birth to kids who are 17, 15, 15, and 8. They come into the world so that we can be eased into the whole parenthood thing. Al was laughing these evil 'just you wait' laughs at us the entire visit, as if he knows something that we haven't quite figured out yet... I suppose that's what family is for.

Labels: Family, The Boy, Travel

posted by Lindsay @ 8:09 PM