An Impromptu Skylee Weekend

Alison has been traveling most weeks for work. We both really look forward to the weekends when we get to spend some time together. We didn't have much planned this last weekend. We had a few errands to run, but otherwise not much was going on. 

One of Alison's co-workers invited us (and Skylee) to his kid's birthday party. We took Skylee with us. We weren't really sure how the party would go because Covid, but it was fine. The weather was good so the party was outside. There weren't that many people there and people were good at keeping their distance and wearing masks. When we arrived there weren't many other kids, except for the birthday boy. We gave him a gift, and Skylee played in some bounce houses they had rented. Since she was the only other kid she enlisted me to play with her. We came up with a game where she would throw a beach ball out of the bounce house and I would try to catch it before it hit the ground. If it hit the ground she got a point. I would then throw it back into the bounce house and if it hit the ground inside the bounce house I got a point. It was a fun game. Eventually another girl Skylee's age showed up so she had a friend. I thought this would get me off the hook. Skylee still wanted to play the game, she just enlisted her friend to play as well. I then enlisted Alison. 

When we were driving Skylee home she told us she wanted to have a sleepover at our house. We told her that she had to ask her parents. They said yes. We did hang out at her house for a few hours. We had planned to have a little game night with Kristin and Dan this weekend. We played Canasta. It is a fun game. It is also a long game. We didn't quite finish - we will have to play the last couple of rounds sometime soon. 

Skylee came home with us. It was late by the time we got home. We immediately got ready for bed. Skylee picked out a book to read. She wanted to read Mary Blair's Unique Flair. It is a delightful children's book all about Mary Blair's life and career as a Disney artist. 

In the morning Skylee slept in until around 8:30am. When we got up I took Skylee paddle boarding. It was a little too cold for Alison. This was probably our last time paddle boarding in 2020. It was chilly, but it was also sunny. It felt okay out on the boards. Paddle boarding with Skylee is so fun. She likes to talk while we paddle. She is always so proud of her paddle board skills. She is really good, especially since the paddle and board are both big for her. We paddled out past a couple of bridges before deciding to turn around. Coming back was slow going. The wind had picked up and so we had to paddle against a fairly strong wind. We weren't in a hurry and made our way back. Skylee did get tired so we jimmy rigged a way for me to pull her board. I fastened one end of her paddle to the netting on the front of my board and had her hold onto the other end of the paddle. I then paddled for both of us. It worked! After a little break Skylee was ready to finish the paddle back to the shore. 

Back at our house we ate breakfast and hung around the house. In the afternoon Alison took Skylee to get pedicures. Skylee got her nails painted with a Halloween theme - she was pretty excited about it. Alison and Skylee both love getting pedicures. 

In the evening we went for a walk around Daybreak. We were looking at all of the Halloween decorations. There are quite a few impressive displays around the neighborhood. Skylee really wanted to go to the "fun park" so we headed in that direction. We let her play for 15 minutes, which to her was hardly enough time. On the way home Alison promised she could come for a sleep over again soon. Then they planned a sleep over the Friday before Halloween. Skylee then came up with plan for a Halloween brunch with our family. She is just like her mom - she loves to plan parties. 

We took Skylee home. It was sure fun to spend time with our niece. She is funny and smart and has so much enthusiasm for life. Her enthusiasm is contagious.