babybloomr

I haven’t posted in a few days! Sheesh. Get off my back.

(This is not aimed at you, dear readers-who-probably-haven’t-even-noticed, but at Miss Naggy McPursedLips, the woman who sometimes lives in my head. She may or may not be Church of Christ.)

I have been gone because I was dropping Charlotte the Wonder ‘Tween –formerly known as Charlotte the Wonder Toddler and Charlotte the Wonder Kid– off at camp in Arkansas.

FOR TWO WEEKS!!!

I kinda screamed that, didn’t I? Sorry, I’m still adjusting to the idea of having her gone that long.

Ennywho, I was at my parent’s house for a couple of days and for some stupid reason my new-ish fancy schmancy MacBook Pro can’t seem to wrap its little brain around the concept of dial-up, so unless I wanted to go running over to my sister Carolyn’s house all the dang time, I was intraweb-less. Which caused me to die just a little bit on the inside every day. Finally, after purchasing a $50 Mac something-or-other and enlisting the help of my nephew The Computer Genius, I was able to get on– of course that was at like 10:00 p.m. the night before I left, so yeah, didn’t much matter at that point. But the good news is that next time I’m at mom and dad’s no one will have to listen to me whining about no internet access, which I am sure will be appreciated by all.

Charlotte was her usual amiable self– she knew absolutely no one at the camp, but by the time I finished registering her she had already made a friend. I just love that kid. I was my usual self as well– I found out an hour after I dropped her off that her spending money (which has to be in quarters for some weird reason– ever carried around fifty bucks worth of rolled quarters in your purse? Ouch.) was still IN my purse. And then the next morning I found out that her towels were still in the trunk. I totally rock as a mom!!! Anyway, I fixed it. She can now drink too much Dr. Pepper AND take a shower, which after all, is why we send her to camp in the first place, right?

I took a couple of photos which I will post later, if they are any good– those gulags bunkhouses don’t have such great lighting…

Things have calmed down around here, apparently the Taff media blitz is over. Madi is still getting daily messages from people saying, “Did you really get bitten by a shark???” but sadly, no paparazzi ambushing us on our way to the mailbox. We’ll have to learn to live with obscurity.

So last night we all went to the Stardust Drive-In Theater in Watertown to see that Ninja Panda movie, which kinda sucked was OK– Char loved it. I know I have written about going to the drive-in before, but I have to tell you, we just love that place! It is such a family-fun thing to do, and I always have waves of teenage memories flood over me every time we go. Although, of course, these trips are very different than the ones I remember from my torrid youth in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Nowadays there is a lot less making out. Actually, none– what’s up with THAT? 

But some things haven’t changed at all. When you pull up, you still pay at the little guard gate thing:

The screen still looks like the ones I remember, kinda funky and rickety.

But these days we spend more time getting comfortable than steaming up the windows.

Here’s the set-up: Char and I pile in the back of the SUV with blankets and pillows…

Madi perches on top of the roof (with her quilt and ever-present phone) 

and Russ sits in a beach chair next to the tailgate.

Of course, who are we kidding, it’s really all about the…

Some things never change.

And that’s my public service announcement for the day:

Find one of the few remaining drive-ins out there and patronize it! They’re a dying breed, and your kids will love it. Or, ditch the kids and go make out.