Sister Time

We were lucky enough to get CG back for another five days in August, right before she had to go back to school. We drove up to the airport early on a Monday morning to pick her up, and then immediately dove into the fun. We met up with her Utah BFF and headed over to Scheels, a new gigantic sporting goods store nearby that we have been wanting to visit for awhile.

We didn't stay long at all, but it was long enough for the little girls to discover the gigantic fish tank and name all the fish (half Nemo, half Dori), and for the big girls to buy lots and lots of fudge. Yes, the sporting goods store has fudge, and I have no idea why, but I do know that they have the nut free fudge completely separate, and they even have color coded spatulas so the nut spatulas never get used on the nut-free. It was like crazy allergy mom heaven! 

Soon we dropped off Utah BFF and headed home. Poor CG had worked the late shift the night before only to get up just a few hours later to get on an airplane, and we hadn't been on the road long when we looked back to see this:

(If I were tricky enough with pictures I would find a way to turn that into one panoramic picture, but after messing with it for way too long I gave up and you instead get two pictures.)

This trip for her consisted of a whole lot of nothing exciting going on. We offered to go fun places, but CG just wanted to hang out and do nothing, and so we obliged. 

We did visit one very special place, though. Even though I grew up in this teeny town we now live in, it wasn't until we got back that I was introduced to what my girls call the Ice Cream Farm. We dragged CG there one night after dinner for a treat. 

This is Marquis's "I'm going to pretend to be angry you are taking my picture" face. He was smiling both before and after the picture. How could he not? He was eating two scoops of delicious ice cream with all of his girls, after all!

Even though we didn't leave much, we still had a fantastic time. There was lots of good sister time and much teasing that occurred. It's hard to tell in this picture, but CG is "helping" Princess put on her jammies, by putting the pants on her head and the shirt on her legs. 

This trip was very brief, and yet we loved every minute. 

Early this morning I woke up and was headed downstairs for my normal morning routine, and I saw a light coming from CG's room. For a moment in my half awake state I had to think and try to remember if she was here or not, and I got super excited. Then I realized that one of the little girls had plugged in a string of Christmas lights that CG has in her room and I hadn't noticed it when I turned out all the basement lights the night before. Rats, hopes dashed!

CG, we love you, we miss you. You are an amazing daughter, step-daughter, sister, and friend. We can't wait for the next time!