While I’ve enjoyed Mother’s Day in the past, this year was the best one ever. It really ended up being an entire weekend. George had to do some work out near my parents on Saturday so the kids and I went over there. It was so much better to go see my Mom on the Saturday because we got to spend a lot more time with her, we had dinner there, and it was less rushed than if we had tried to fit a visit in on Sunday. I got my mom a DVD of The Waterhorse because I knew she would enjoy it and when I called her on Sunday to wish her a happy Mother’s Day, she said that she had watched it with my dad on Saturday night and she absolutely loved it.

On Sunday, I got to sleep in a little bit, and even though it wasn’t hardcore sleeping (I dozed, mostly), it felt great. Hayley brought in a beautiful card that she had made in school and it’s the best card I ever got. Then she went off with Breanna and George in the other room and came in with a bag for me. They had gotten me a new MP3 player. My sister had gotten me one for Christmas, but the volume button got stuck one day and when I tried to press it to turn it up, it actually jammed right up inside the player. As a result, the player worked but I couldn’t turn it up (or down since I couldn’t bring it back up later – Amanda, take note, the buttons jam easily, don’t bust your volume too!). It was hard to hear outside with traffic. I still use it in the bedroom with a pair of old computer speakers so it’s still getting plenty of use (every night I listen to my current favorite album and then I go to sleep with the sounds of white noise playing on it). Now though, I have another one that I can use outdoors again and I love it.

They got dressed then and left me by myself on a quest to get some breakfast. They came back with McDonalds and oh my god I haven’t had a Mickey D’s egg and sausage McMuffin in years. That was so damn good.

I managed to get Breanna to sleep for about 45 minutes just so she wouldn’t get cranky from nap deprivation and when she got up we headed out to a used book store. I couldn’t browse quite as much as I would normally like (we have to go back just George and I some day), I did enjoy poking around and I got myself two books – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants which I always wanted to read, and don’t laugh but I also got Dianetics. Yes, the Scientology-applauded book by L. Ron Hubbard. Relax, I’m not converting – I used to study religion and I was fascinated by cults so this is the sort of thing I enjoy reading simply for the sake of curiosity.

(If I suddenly start talking about Xenu, please stage an intervention.)

The man who owns the store was super nice, chatting with everyone who came in, giving the girls lollipops (and being nice enough to discreetly ask us first), and then giving me a carnation for Mother’s Day. I can’t wait to go back!

After we left the store we drove down to the water and hung out for a little while on the banks of the St. Lawrence, enjoying the waterfront. We’re planning to go back soon for a picnic just because it was so beautiful and the kids loved it.

We headed towards our own corner of suburbia and stopped for some ice cream, then headed over to see George’s mom for awhile. We hung out chatting while the kids played with their aunt, and then we finally came home for supper, bath time for the girls, and a very easy bedtime. They were both so tired it didn’t take much for them to fall asleep.

There’s a photo album from the weekend over here on Flickr. Despite taking 147 photos over two days (!) I managed to bring it down to just 13, don’t worry.

It was definitely the best Mother’s Day I could have asked for. Next year has a lot to live up to!