Checklist for the leaving America

1- American Burger and fries (thanks Red Robin last night)
2-Laundry clean and done in American size washer/dryer-
3-Walk around target with soft pretzel and icy diet coke fountain drink buy a shirt for $5.66 and In Touch (still no pix of those Pitt twins)
4-Watch results show of " So you Think you can Dance" followed by "America's Best Dance Crew"
5-Drive with the radio not worried that I am on the wrong side of the road
6-Brush my beautiful white sparkly teeth
7-one last starbucks before I pack ( I know they have coffee and tea there)
8-get care packages from pals (thanks CEM and Kristi and Kristy)
9-say goodbye to parents until XMAS-feels like I am going to boarding school
10- Read Horoscope for today (this is real for Pisces)-Tap into your spirit of adventure. Explore a new neighborhood or a new interest. This brings friendship your way:)

I like Cupcakes

Like her mother- she only likes the frosting as well!

Made In Detroit

Just home from the Kid Rock concert in Detroit. Headed to the concert with one of my best friends from childhood. Parker and I had a blast reminiscing about summer concerts at Pine Knob- which included underage drinking (mountain dew and vodka was our drink of choice but who are we kidding any beverage we could get our hands on worked), picking up random guys (with a strong preference for the preppy ones), hanging out in the parking lot to party and telling our parents we got stuck in traffic (got to love the no cell phone era circa 1990). Our other partner in crime from high school -Wendy bailed on the concert because of that annoying thing called a job (we missed you sorry you had to defend the law!) We had a blast people watching and jamming to Kid Rock songs- no mention of children or even husbands for that matter! So yes beer and an outdoor rock concert on a 70 degree Michigan night make for a great night.

Worn Out Welcome

Well its official- our welcome at the parents house is a little worn out. The grandkids are not as adorable as they were 3 weeks ago. Weekend started off rocky- generally my mom is a good cook but we had one of those awful nothing went together meals (sweet potatoes, shrimp tempura, and undercooked artichokes)- Next we have had some issues with temperature control- the parents refuse to bust on the AC- so sat night I was woken by both kids at varying hours in the early morning letting me know they were hot and need a drink of water. So with lack of sleep- I demanded AC on and am now in control of the AC for my final week here. So yes my parents have mentioned ( 100 or so times) that I need to call on wed and reconfirm our Friday flight to England. (e.g. not taking any chances with cancelled flights) The toddlers have won- and the grandparents surrender to tiredness. They put up a good fight and hung in there though Sprout on Demand, McD's happy meals, treks to the park, swim lessons, I have to go to the potty at the most inopportune times, Toys everywhere. They have a bottle of champagne on ice in preparation for our Friday departure.

Casey Jane the Bad A@%!

Decided to enroll the kids in swim call here in MI- Had to lie and say Casey was 3 in order not to have to do the parent tot class. I figured singing songs in 70 degree pool water with casey was not a good use of my time:) Got there the first day and her class was full of 5 year olds who looked like giants compared to our little lady. Parents quizzed me on how old she was-(just turned 3 -I replied.) The teacher put the kiddos in the 4 foot area of the pool- so basically casey has to tread water the entire time of the class. Needless to say- Casey is a rockstar swimmer- basically outswam the class the first day and every day of camp. She did tell me that she likes our pool in TX better because there are not so many people- (oh how we miss our pool!)
Went to costco to get some hi-tech anti fog goggles since we may have a future Olympian on our hands.

Rock Star

Picked up Casey from daycamp- and her teacher said she kept singing- "keep bleeding" Keep keep bleeding". Realized miss jane had heard the leona lewis song a zillion times in the car. Started thinking I may have broken the kids from the cute but uber annoying alphabet songs that plagued us in TX. For a while Chris and I couldn't change the station without screaming happening from the backseat. So we will continue the pop route and see what cool tunes the kiddos can pick up before London. One awesome thing about being back in MI- is 96.3- all pop songs all the time

On another note- attempted to take CJ to see a play (the Jungle Book)- had to leave before the first act due to CJ being afraid of the male actor playing the tiger and the snake and probably even the usher. I wouldn't have minded so much if we hadn't pay $$ for tix and drove in a torrential downpour to inner city Detroit. So much for adding culture to his life back to the movies for this family.

H

Red White and Blue!