Girls' Night Out

My brother and sister-in-law returned from Beirut on Monday, where they'll spend a few weeks in the Midwest and then visit friends in North Carolina and head up to the Cape to visit her family. We didn't want to overwhelm them with the kids on their first few days back, so I waited until Thursday to head over to Mom and Dad's. I don't know who was more excited to see each other--Casey and Derek or the kids (or even me!). Jeremy greeted them with open arms and huge hugs, while Riley was a tad more reserved.

I'm regretting that I forgot my camera to capture these precious moments!

We had a truly wonderful time, catching up since we last saw them in August '08, spending time camping out in the tent they got the kids, dressing up in Arab costumes (which are beyond cute!), and playing bat and ball together.

Perhaps the highlight to my day, though, was that D arranged for Mom, Casey, and me to head downtown to see a play at the Steppenwolf Theatre. Casey had always wanted to see a play downtown, and it turns out that Derek would probably prefer to have Casey go with the girls anyway. We had a wonderful time! It was the first time the three of us spent time with just the three of us; Casey is a magical fit to this family. I don't think anyone could have hand-picked a better match for my brother.

Anyway, D offered to watch the kids for me, and in between the torrential downpours, we packed ourselves up in the car and headed to the L. While standing on the platform, we noticed about 15-20 police cars, followed by several black cars with tinted windows flying down the Kennedy. We then realized that there weren't any other cars traveling down the expressway. Once we noticed an ambulance joining the promiade, Casey realized it must be the president because the president always travels with an ambulance. So how about that?! We witnessed the president arriving from the airport and heading downtown. It was then that we realized it was an excellent idea to NOT drive downtown.

We stopped for dinner at an excellent pizza place right by the theater and had a wonderful time talking. After dinner, we overheard people complaining about streets being closed due to the president. Guess he was in the same area! We walked back to the theater, found our seats and enjoyed the show called Up (And no, it's nothing like the movie we learned!). The play itself had an excellent first act that caused us to laugh aloud a few times, but the second act left a lot to be desired. We walked out of there a tad confused as to the storyline. Overall, though, the company made it worthwhile.

We arrived at home around 11, and the three of us sat on the deck chatting some more and enjoying some raspberry ice and sorbet. I hope we can make this an annual tradition, because, besides my daughter, these two women are the most important girls in my life. I love you both!