so much happy, so little time

this weekend i've been visiting my family who live 6 hrs away from me and it's been positively delightful. we brought brooke's bike with us so that my dad could teach her how to ride it without training wheels. one fell off last summer & since she's 8, i decided i wasn't going to be replacing it, but rather taking them both off so that she'll have to learn how to ride for real. last summer she wasn't ready or brave enough to even try, but since we've had a warm few days, she's been sitting on her bike in the driveway & mentally preparing herself to learn how to ride it.

yesterday, she got it out while i was walking out front with my sister & she spent half an hour fuddling around on the bike, trying things out until suddenly, she got it! with no help from anyone, she was out there pedaling around the driveway! my dad took her out & put air in the tires & bought her a helmet & now she's quickly becoming a biking pro & wants to spend all her time riding around the driveway & yard. this is extra exciting to me because i've read several stories by adult aspies recently, saying that they never developed the coordination necessary to be able to ride a bike. so, yay, brooke!

then last night i went with my parents to a surprise party for my middle sister who just turned 25. her boyfriend put the whole thing on & he did a great job, cooking a really nice meal & decorating everything to make it all fancy and fun. sarah seems to have been really surprised to walk in & find about 45 people waiting to yell "SURPRISE!" at her. then, after she blew out the candles, she turned to find her boyfriend down on one knee with a ring in hand, asking her to marry him. apparently several people knew it was coming, but i wasn't on that list, though i'd been tipped by my other sister who was guessing earlier in the day. i managed to catch it all on video, and it's so cute to see them at the biggest decision of their lives so far. i'm really glad i was able to be here this weekend so i could be a part of it with them.

tonight i went to visit a friend who i haven't seen since brooke was a tiny baby. she's got a daughter less than a year younger, and we were looking forward to letting our girls meet. they hugged each other immediately upon meeting & then ran straight upstairs to the new friend's room where we could hear them squealing & giggling for the next few hours. it was fun hearing them up there, sounding all happy, all the while far enough away that the moms got a chance to really chat and catch up on 8 years of life. as we got into the car to go back to my parents house tonight, i asked brooke, "did you have a great time with kylie?" "YEAH!" "you sure laughed a lot. she must be really funny!" " she was SOO funny! she kept doing this!" brooke then made a motion of throwing something up into the air & catching it. i asked what kylie was throwing. she said, "well, not just kylie. i tried it too cuz it was really fun and funny!" i asked again, "what were you guys throwing that was so funny?"

"the hamsters."

"the zhu zhu pets?"

"no, the real ones."

"you threw them? into the air?!"

"yeah, you should have seen how they flailed their legs and kicked their little arms so fast! it was hilarious!"

"brooke, don't you realize that they were kicking and flailing because they were terrified and probably thought they were going to die?"

silence.

silence.

"were you guys also throwing them to each other like balls?"

a tiny little voice from the backseat whispered, "i don't want to talk anymore."

and so ended my wonderful, wacky weekend.