This past weekend, my family celebrated Mother's Day. Unlike last year, this year we actually got together on Mother's Day... even though Mom and Dad's big income tax deadline is quickly approaching on the extended date of May 17th.
The celebrations started a little bit early as Jeremy came up to our house Saturday afternoon. When he arrived, Eliot and I were just finishing a bit of cleaning- me inside the house and Eliot mowing the lawn and weed whacking. Jeremy relaxed on the couch while Eliot and I showered and got cleaned up. Then, we went up to Portland.
The mall was closed so we headed toward Target because both Eliot and Jeremy wanted to go. They both found a few things they had been looking for. After that, we ordered Pat's Pizza. We had a little bit of time to kill before we had to pick it up, so we went to the Walgreen's down the road from Pat's. While there, we wandered around and I found a little Mickey plush with shorts on. I had been looking for one for a home decor project, so he came home with us along with some snacks for the night.
We picked up Jeremy's and my pizzas and headed home. (Eliot had a frozen pizza at home that he wanted instead.) While eating, we watched the first two episodes of the new Ducktales on Disney+. Then, we switched over to watch the first period of the San Jose Sharks game before calling it a night and going to bed early.
Sunday morning, the three of us got up, showered and headed north. Jeremy took his car while Eliot and I drove my parents' truck that we've had for the winter. We made a quick stop to drop something off at our storage unit, then we went down the road to the park and ride to leave Jeremy's car. Since we missed the mall Saturday, the guys wanted to stop at Newbury Comics quickly. While they went inside I called my Mom to check in with their ETA. We still had plenty of time so we went into Books a Million where Eliot found a Charmander Loungefly that he wanted. We also made another quick stop at Target before hopping back on the highway.
We met Mom and Dad about 45 minutes later at the LL Bean store in Freeport. It was there, in the LL Bean parking lot, that I hugged my Mom for the first time since last August. It was pretty emotional, but somehow I held it together. After that, I gave Mom the card we all bought her and Jeremy gave her a little plush zebra.
After that, we didn't really have any plans. We went inside LL Bean and walked around the store. I swore I saw our dentist but with everyone wearing masks I couldn't tell. A few minutes later, a lady came up to me while I was watching the fish in the pond and said hello to me. It was our dentist's wife who works in the front office. I said hello to her, introduced her to my family and told her Eliot was around there somewhere. She went back to her shopping and few minutes later, Eliot caught up with us. Apparently, he wandered off to pet a dog in the shoe section. The dog hadn't left the house much since she'd been adopted during quarantine and was still getting used to people.
Eventually we made our way outside where we took a few pictures with LL Bean boot car. Then, we slowly walked around downtown Freeport. (Mom has to walk slowly as she's still getting her strength back after all of her surgeries last year. This was the most she's walked since fall of 2019.) We started looking for food places since we hadn't eaten yet, and eventually decided on getting ice cream at Ben and Jerry's. Mom and Jeremy both got milkshakes. Dad and Eliot both got sorbet and I got a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It was so nice to be able to sit all together, at a picnic table, without face masks on. Plus, the ice cream was delicious!
After that, we made our way across the street and over to Yankee Candle. While we wandered around the store, the ladies there told us the store was closing- which was why they had so many great deals. Eliot found a wax pot melter that he liked and since we already had a bunch of the melt cups at home with no melter, it made sense to get it. He got the melter and three more melt pots for the cost of just the melter!
At this point, we didn't really have anywhere else that we wanted to go, but we were all getting thirsty. We decided to go to McDonald's for drinks so we split up and walked back to our cars. While, I drove over to McDonald's, I realized that I had forgotten to tell Eliot and Jeremy about the comic book store that I'd seen on the map when looking for ice cream places. After giving me a little crap for forgetting something so important, they decided to go since they still had about 20 minutes before it closed. I parked in McDonald's and they headed right over to the comic book store across the street.
Dad went inside to order drinks and some fries while Mom and I sat in their car and talked. A few minutes later, Eliot and Jeremy reappeared talking excitedly and each holding a white shopping bag. Eliot even bought me a gift while there... Buzz and Woody pens! Dad had accidentally bought Coke instead of Diet Coke, so Eliot went inside to get a drink and more fries. Jeremy and Dad went to gas up the truck for us while Eliot and I stayed at the car and talked with my Mom. Once they returned, we all visited for a few more minutes before Mom and Dad had to drive back to Augusta to pick Nana up from her visit with my aunts and uncles.
Before leaving, I grabbed the Mickey Rainbow fabric that my parents had bought for me at the Topsham Joann Fabrics on their drive down. I had asked them to get me 5-6 yards since the Portland store was sold out of it, and Dad bought me the entire bolt of fabric! (I think it's 10 yards since that's what they had in stock before he went.) It's so bright and fun! I can't wait to make a bunch of stuff with it!
We all said goodbye and gave each other more hugs. Then we tried to make loose plans for Memorial Day weekend. We're not sure if the three us of "kids" will be going home to Trenton, or if Mom, Dad and Nana will be coming down to us, or if we will be doing a little of both, but we've all marked that weekend off to get together again.
Then they headed north and we drove back south. Eliot and I dropped Jeremy off at the park and ride where his car was waiting for him and we headed home. Once we got home, I basically crashed, but it was a good crash. I was physically, mentally and emotionally spent. I was so grateful that we got to see my parents and spend time with them. (We haven't seen them since Christmas.) They're fully vaccinated, we've had our first shots and we're closer to returning to things feeling more normal.
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day as well... ours was definitely special. °o°
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