Labor Day Weekend 2013

Labor Day Weekend

How did your Labor Day Weekend go?  Ours started out with a search for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

David was assigned (or picked) this book for his holiday, long weekend reading. He borrowed it from the school library.

David was in Kid's Club (his after school program).  I picked him up for his piano lesson and he almost falls apart.  He forgot where he put Harry Potter.  He knew he had it after school but could not remember where he left it.  I said "calm down, dad will help you find it, after music class."

He pulled himself together and you could tell all the way through piano lessons, one thing was on his mind: finding Harry Potter.

Piano lesson ended and as promised we drove right over to the Kid's Club - it was no where to be found.  We walked all the way to the school to see if he left it there or on the path along the way.

Not only was it not where he thought he might have left it, the school was shut down tight for Labor Day Weekend.  If it was in the school - there was no way we were going to get access until after the holiday was over (missing the time he was supposed to be reading Harry Potter).

So the Odyssey was well under way.  After walking back from the school to Kid's Club (just in case we missed it along the path the first time), we drove to Costco.  We would buy a copy.  Costco of all places did not have it. One of the most popular books in the world and they did not have it.

Time is beginning to run out. Stores are closing early.  We think about making a dash for the library - way to late for that.  Suddenly we see a Barnes and Nobles.  A 10th anniversary edition (with the new cover) is sitting right in front of us.  We lunge for it and it is ours.  

It has been a very long afternoon and the sun was baking down on us during the hike to school, in the car - everywhere.  We are also starving.  Luckily, we get into a restaurant and although it takes forever - food finally arrives.  We have the book, we have food - we made it. 

What a story of a dad's dedication right?

Well, there is a postscript - a bit more to the story.  While yes dad said he would do everything he could to help the little man track down a copy of that book, where is the one place neither of them looked you may ask?

Well when we finally made it all the way home after that Odyssey and it is time to unpack from the day's journey - low and behold the school's copy of the "book" was in his backpack the entire time.

So I ask:  How was your Labor Day Weekend?

No worries - we actually had a great time hanging out, rushing around. It was almost like a scavenger hunt and there were more days ahead - that was only Friday afternoon and evening.

The next morning, aside from making waffles, we played Harry Potter on the playstation.  Yes he is teaching me and yes he is way better than I am at it.

We also spent time in a cultured milieu:  a form of mental musical fusion.  Look carefully - he did this by mistake and we thought it was hilarious.  It was time to practice the violin and he walked over to the piano to play violin.  This is a very musical kid but both instruments at the same time.  I don't think so. It was a sort of musical psychomotor sinestesia of sorts.  He was thinking of playing piano while picking up the violin.  Not exactly like smelling chocolate while listening to Beethoven's Violin Concerto but we thought it was funny.

From there we took flight.  It was time for the surprise.  A remote control helicopter.  We flew it in the living room without breaking anything.  Pretty impressive.

 

After a bit of hide and go seek in the house at night it was time for bed and yet another day.

For those looking for the more conventional, outdoor activity don't worry you will not be disappointed.  Off we went to golf.

The man has a pretty good swing. We are still working on it but not bad for chipping anyway.

 Then it was time for lunch. We are waiting for our milkshakes.  (We got food too just because we had to tell folks we actually ate something right?)

That's David below reading Batman for fun while waiting for lunch.  (We bought the Batman and Superman books at Costco so we would have a consolation prize in case Harry Potter was no where to be found.)  He devoured these books faster than our meal.

That's the two of us below waiting for our milkshakes

The list of fun kid stuff goes on and on but food was a theme that ran though our exploits.

David and I are relaxing a bit later in the day with a dinner we pulled together at home - enjoying the quiet and the lovely backyard and a wonderful setting sun.

 

Not a bad way to end a Labor Day weekend, but there is postscript.

Mom joined us on Monday for new helicopter flight, Starbucks, and a meal at Benihana's.  

What a Labor Day Weekend!