A Weekend in Pekin

We spent the weekend in Pekin, which made us both nostalgic for our Peoria college days. We also longed for life in a small town. And Pekin is so small that when Cathleen went to the liquor store to get wine for Katie' baby shower, the guy behind the counter knew what event the liquor was for before she told him. (Also, Cathleen, who does not live in Pekin anymore, knew the guy's first and last name. Love it).

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Not only did we come in for Katie's shower, we also celebrated my mom's birthday (my dad got her a blue Prius, so she is now even more like Larry David-- and Ben ran around all weekend saying "Pretty good. Pretty, pretty good."), hung out with an old high school friend of mine (besides Katie and Cathleen, who are also old high school friends), and stopped by the Norton speech tournament at Bradley (and yes, we are those asshole alums who never judge). It was a packed weekend!

At dinner Saurday night, my friend Kelly surprised us by bringing along 2 notes that she and I passed in high school. Well, one note from me to her written at the height of what seemed to be a very intense fight and one note that she wrote to me but never actually gave me because, as she said, she "didn't like to say mean things to her friends."

I, apparently, had no such qualms. My note was a string of horrible insults and such gems as "We are sophomores, not second graders," and "Like, I don't even care what happened in gym class." Then at the end of the page, after calling her names and telling her she was-- gasp-- not cool, I said, "Write me back and tell me how you feel." Freaking awesome. Dinner was so fun-- I have not laughed that hard in a long time.

We also ditiched my parents with our kids 2 nights in a row and went to our favorite college bar both nights (thanks mom and dad-- best birthday eva, huh mom?)

In the car Friday afternoon, Jack lost his shit and I had to ride in the back. He tried to feed himself a bottle

while Harry perused his latest Scholastic book order form

Harry and (to a lesser degree) Jack rolled up their sleeves and trashed my parents' house moments after bursting through the front door.


Harry has a Statue of Liberty obsession, so he was really excited when we told him there was a big statue at Bradley and he could see her. But when he was confronted with old Lydia Moss Bradley, he freaked. We took our picture with her to show him how approachable she was. (How many drunk pictures do we have with this statue from our hazy undergrad days? SO MANY! Too bad I am so freaking old and went to college before digital cameras really took off because I would SHARE THEM ALL with you righ now.)

He just kind of stood in front of the statue whimpering until I forced him to encounter her and touch her chilly bronze body with one trembling finger.

He did not like. DID NOT LIKE! Is still, in fact, telling me that the statue of Lydia is "reawwy scawwy" but the Statue of Liberty is "probwy reawwy freindwy."


On Saturday afternoon, Ben and Harry and my dad went to Dairy Queen and took naps, while Jack, my mom, and I headed to Cathleen's mom's house for Katie's baby shower. And on the way home, I totally got to drive the Prius, which was awesome. Jack was kind of a fussbag at the party because he didn't want to take a nap and miss flirting with the ladies, and I was TOTALLY that annoying person who brings her baby to a baby shower.

The mother-to-be (with Leila Marie to-be) and the grandmotehr-to-be

Jack and Cathleen

Jack dwarfing my mom

An action shot, with Katie's grandma on the left.

Here's Jack with Cathleen's mom and my all time favorite high school teacher

After the shower, we went home so Harry could continue ordering my mom around. Here she is being ordered to board Harry's boat.

Ben gave Ben a wet willy

And prepared for retribution. Which never came because Ben is apparently not tough anymore.

Sunday morning, we got up, dressed the boys in matching outfits and trashed my parents' living room one more time.




Dancing Jack


Uncle Ben gave Harry one more spin around the room in Harry's favorite plastic "boat."

As we were gassing up the car to go home (Dude-- gas is only $1.95 in central Illinois), I pulled a Gar and bought an amazing array of convenience store car treats. As I munched a donut and about a thousand gumballs and Ben grappled with a 2 pound bag of Chex Mix and a wad of beef jerky the size of his arm, Harry passed out in a pile of Oreo dust.

An excellent weekend, all in all.