Ballerina Girl

Two weeks before I returned to work, we decided to make the trip to see Amy, Darryl, and mostly Amelia, since it had been nearly two months since I had seen her.  Although Amy and Darryl came while I was in the hospital, Amelia stayed with her Aunt Ashley to avoid exposure to my meningitis.   We also thought this would be a good test of my strength because it is an eight hour drive and it is usually a pretty busy weekend when we visit.  

We were waiting for Amelia when she came in from school.  She looks so cute in her school uniform or “costume” as she calls it.  She was as happy to see us as we were to see her.  During our visit we played Candyland, ran races, and went to a nearby outline mall.  At one point I was alone with Amelia and it was hot and we couldn’t find another quarter for her to ride a little ride she found.  At that point I knew that I would be able to handle work just fine.  

Every time we would get in the car to go somewhere, she would get a paper and pen and assume the role of her teacher.  She wasn’t teaching us our ABC’s or numbers.  Instead, she was writing our names on two sides of her paper and then she would announce “Paw-Paw and Amy… car pool” and “Nana and Darryl… extended care”.  I guess this is how her teacher divides them up at the end of the day.  She appears to be fascinated with the management of a classroom.

We always try to take her a little surprise when we visit.  This time we bought her some ballet shoes, a leotard and a tutu all in pink because I thought she would like to play dress up and dance.  I found out when I got there that this would have a practical use as well since she would be starting ballet lessons   the next week.  She loved the outfit and immediately stripped and put it on.  As we got our cameras she assumed many exaggerated ballet poses.  Picture below is one of the best.  

Saturday night Darryl grilled steaks for us.  I had requested a Darryl steak while I was in the hospital and even though he had just returned home that day from a business trip, he was still gracious enough to cook me the steak I had been craving.  He’s my favorite son-in-law, you know.

We left early due to the impending landfall of Hurricane Issac.  As you all prob ably know it turned and headed another way once we were headed home.  It was a good weekend and we got our much needed Amelia “fix”.  We’re already looking forward to next time.