We're off to the Ball

School is out. Third grade is over. Summer vacation has begun. But something is different. This is usually when I start to panic. How will I ever keep Kate occupied for three months. She's an only child. I'm an only mom. She's nine. I'm---not. Jon calls this May/August Anxiety Syndrome. It must be in the DSM IV somewhere (I knew that Psychology degree would come in handy someday). I call it "I'm a cranky mom in June and a lonely mom in September".

Not this summer. Nope. Call the Mother-of-the-Year-People. Friday afternoon Kate and I are headed to San Diego to see her two best cousins, Dana and Andie.



Dana (10) is on the left, Andie (8) on the right, and Kate is in the middle. This picture was taken in Old Town, San Diego last year at Thanksgiving. They don't know that Kate is coming. They'll still be in school until June 16.








The story is that Aunt Debbie (me) is coming for Uncle Denny's (my baby brother) 40th birthday party. Denny is pictured here with his girlfriend Helen (left, and yours truly). The picture is also taken last year at Thanksgiving and also in Old Town.

But surprise of all surprises, Kate will be with me. We'll stay for 10 days and then the four of us --Kate, Dana, Andie and I -- will all fly back to Minnesota where the cousins will be together here until July 3rd. Their mom, my sister Diane, will come out on June 26th to spend some time with our family as well, but basically, Kate gets 3+ weeks with her cousins. I'm quite sure it doesn't get any better than that.

Except for this:


This is the pool ball that Di purchased for Kate's arrival. It's kind of like a human hamster wheel. You get in and spin it around. It looks nauseatingly hot and claustrophobic to me but I can't wait. Neither can Kate.










So that will get me through the 4th of July which by my calendar is just about half way through summer when I can start worrying about what I'll do when she goes back to school.