Much of the final days of our holiday spent visiting Geoff and his family were a collection of events. We shopped, cooked, enjoyed music, movies, and TV together. Things that make a family, a family.
I saw Miles' classroom when we picked him up from school and Elijah introduced me to his teacher as my Dad's mother, Nana. Glen met both of the grandkids' teachers. We also monitored homework and decided that Kindergarten wasn't what it used to be. Elijah reads books and is not alone in doing so.
Thursday night, Geoff and Melissa went out for a quiet dinner to celebrate their 14th anniversary. I made a simple supper then we played Lego--well, I played Lego with Miles and Elijah then Glen listened to Elijah read. We were surprised when Geoff and Melissa came home before the kids went to bed.
On Friday, I accompanied Melissa as she took Miles to the doctor for his 4 year check and escaped seeing him get two booster shots. He was very brave and didn't cry. The after-shot treat is Chick-Fil-A for lunch which we all enjoyed. It was my first experience with this chain and it didn't disappoint. I had their chicken wrap and it was tasty. Elijah, intrigued by my choice, had some to augment the sandwich he shared with Miles.
Chick-Fil-A began in 1967 and its owner, S. Truett Cathy invented the first chicken sandwich so their slogan, 'We didn't invent the Chicken, just the Chicken Sandwich' is true. He pressure cooked the chicken in peanut oil to hasten its serving time and so could compete with burger joints. The only condiment he had was pickles so, to this day, the sandwich is served with two sliced pickles. A devout Christian, Truett insisted the chain close on Sundays and invest heavily in community services and scholarships.
Miles' rescheduled birthday party was Saturday afternoon and three friends showed up to become pirates and enjoy cupcakes and a treasure hunt. They also created their own pirate hats. When they refused help from Elijah, he cried so Grampy took him to the nearby park. As they dressed, I taped Elijah mastering the fine art of tying his own shoes.
Saturday night, Geoff and Melissa went off to a friend's birthday party. It was a Murder Mystery dinner (but only hors d'oeuvres were served) set in the 1920s. Melissa had borrowed a flapper costume from a friend and I bought Geoff a black fedora and small rose for his lapel to augment his suit. He was a mobster. Melissa was the murderer and was surprised when she herself was killed. She laid quietly for 10 minutes until somone discovered the body then watched the others solve the crimes. Geoff won an award for best performer so I guess his time doing high school drama paid off.
Meanwhile, Glen and I had fun with the grandkids. I made a spaghetti supper using Geoff's leftover pizza sauce then we watched Labyrinth. Elijah was a fount of questions so it was good we had seen the movie so many times. The music is always great so that was a bonus. Who can't like David Bowie dressed as the Goblin King? It was a box office flop in 1986 but has become a cult film. Since 1997, Hollywood hosts the 'Labyrinth of Jareth' masquerade ball and there is a series of graphic novels involving Toby's journey through the labyrinth when he's a teen (he is a baby in the movie).
Sunday, after I had packed our suitcase, we car pooled to church since we returned our rented car on Saturday morning. Elijah was not happy to go but this seems to be a normal thing. We then had a quick lunch and Geoff drove us to the airport. It was very crowded but the DIA security system is efficient and so we were at the gate in 45 minutes. My only complaint was this part of B concourse has few seats so many ended up sitting on the floor. We stood for 15 minutes before we were able to sit together. That's when we discovered we weren't sitting next to each other on the plane. Glen was in the final row while I was three rows up. The kind gentleman beside Glen switched seats with me before take-off so that problem was easily solved.
Three international planes landed in Calgary at the same time as we did. Normally customs is a lottery on which line will be quickest but they have modified their system so there were only two choices. We were the last leaving the plane and pretty much the last leaving customs but it felt as if the line moved quickly.
We dumped our bags at home then drove down to Boston Pizza for supper. This restaurant is an Alberta success story. Begun in Edmonton in 1964, it now has franchises across the States and Mexico. There are three in Denver, one close to Geoff's house, but the American versions call themselves - Boston's, the Gourmet Pizza. We ordered their Sicilian thin-crust pizza and enjoyed some Rickard's Red beer which was a nice end to our Reading Week hiatus.
Comments for this post
