Easter Weekend

We have had a super eventful long weekend! Brian had Friday off, so we were able to spend the whole day together as a family. Although it wasn't snowy, the weather hadn't quite warmed up, so we decided to take a family road trip to the Immigration Office at the Canada/US border to get my work permit paperwork taken care of.

We thought it would be a quick and easy trip to just stop in at Border Control on the Canada side and be done with it. Not so - they told us we needed to drive into Michigan and then cross back into Canada and "land" again with new paperwork. Not a problem, it was lunch time anyway! We had a nice lunch at Applebee's and an hour later were driving back across the border into Canada. We followed all the rules and found our parking spot and went in to get a number so that we could meet with an agent who would help us complete our task.

There were about four other folks in line with us, so we decided to take a seat since we figured the wait would be significant. (There were only two agents working the desk since it was a holiday, technically.) Slowly but surely, the line started to move as people pleaded their cases to the agents in charge. Some interesting cases: One fella didn't realize he was in Canada since he thought he was headed to Mexico. Drugs? Mental Illness? Moron? He didn't have an ID on him either . . . he's lucky that Canada gave him a geography lesson and sent him back to the States.

Another lady was crying because she'd been in the office for several HOURS at that point (it was about 1:30pm) and she couldn't prove to anyone where it was that she was going or where she'd come from. Not until she got her "boyfriend" on the phone and he explained their situation to the border guard.

Bennett was generally entertained by watching the guards inspect cars outside the window. We saw suitcases opened and inspected, we saw truck beds emptied, we even saw one man get frisked! Excitement!!!

The other way that he entertained himself was to simply wander around the room and touch everything. Several times we'd reprimanded him for picking at the foam innards of the couch/chair/bench that was beside our seats. It was vinyl and cracked and the foam cushion was coming out of the cracks. He wouldn't leave it alone. Finally, after nearly all the other patrons had left the office, Brian went over to Bennett to remove his hand from the exposed foam and try to redirect him. None of us could believe what Brian saw when he looked down and touched Bennett's hand. Bennett had been worrying a small plastic bag filled with white powder. WHAT THE HELL?!?!?

We all stood still and Brian immediately called over a guard and said, "My son was playing with the foam in this seat and he just pulled this out." The guards were very calm and instructed Brian to quickly take Bennett into the bathroom to wash his hands. I remained glued to my spot and didn't move until given permission. No way I was going to do anything that looked suspicious! They put the baggie in an evidence bag, told me not to worry and then simply picked up the couch/chair/bench and moved it to a secure location. At that point, I noticed small white pellets on the ground under the bench (!) and brought them to the attention of the agent.

Then they brought the drug dogs in. Apparently, they normally patrol the inner office very regularly, but because of the holiday weekend, they'd had the dogs outside more than usual and they hadn't made a pass through the inner office in at least two hours.

After we were all washed and got our breath back, the agent came to tell me that they had tested the "product" and that it was in fact cocaine. I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that my baby was exposed!! He's fine. We're pretty sure that he didn't actually touch anything other than the tied up tail of the bag, but still.

After that event, we finally got our paperwork processed, but were interrupted to give our identifying information to the supervising agent so they could file a formal report. We left after having been at the office for nearly 3 hours. Bennett was an absolute champion and handled it all very well. We drove immediately to Oma and Grandpa's because they were babysitting so Brian and I could go to a dinner party with some of his friends from work. We had a lovely time, but Bennett didn't fall asleep until 10:15. Having way too much fun at Oma's!

On Saturday, we went to an Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Byron Optimist Club. It was held at Boler Mountain, our local ski hill. Bennett decided that he wanted to go skiing, "This DISTANT!" (it's how he says, this instant. So cute!) We were able to convince him that it would be better to wait a year and to go find some eggs at this instant. He was content with that and had a great time digging eggs out of the snow. Afterward, we ran several errands and then had a quiet evening at home.

Today, Sunday, we played outside for a bit and got some chores accomplished before going to Oma & Grandpa's for an afternoon of fun. We did a small inside egg hunt, had a hot tub and then went out to a very rich dinner at Red Lobster - yay, Lobsterfest!!

And now, we're all ready for bed. Brian has to work, but Bennett has the day off from school (again!) so he and I will likely do normal Monday things - grocery store, Costco, perhaps some afternoon swimming.

Hope you all had a great Spring weekend! We are very excited to welcome the new season and say "Sayonara!" to the snow. (Although Leonard warned me we shouldn't take the snow tires off our cars just yet. Damn!)

Makin' Mama Proud

(I wrote this a couple of weeks ago - not sure why it didn't publish then!)

The last few times we've been to the grocery store, Bennett has asked about a certain vegetable. I have been hesitant to purchase it simply because it's not one of my favorites. However, in the interest of being a good example, I bit the bullet this afternoon. My mother and father will be particularly happy that their grandson encouraged me to branch out. Presenting tonight's dinner - my father's personal favorite (I think!): Eggplant Parmesan. I learned that if you cut it thin enough, it gets nice and crisp and you don't even notice the texture. Or, as we call it in my family, the "tasteture". The last pic is quite grainy because I had to zoom in a bit to sneak in on the little guy eating it. Yum!

Dad - I will definitely be adding this to our meal rotation and will be sure to make it for you when you visit next.

Early morning giggles

This morning was ROUGH! Bennett woke up on the very wrong side of the bed (just happens to be the MIDDLE of our bed - his head on my ribs, his feet digging into Brian's back). Therefore we were all kind of grumpy after that wake up call.

Bennett and I made it downstairs to get coffee and some breakfast. About half an hour later, he comes running to find me in the bathroom. He says, a little breathlessly: "Mom! I have to tell you something that I did. It *looks* disastrous, but it isn't *actually* disastrous." I was unsure what I'd find, but lordy that made laugh! I think he could have taken me to a mound of flour piled onto wet coffee grounds spilled inside of the couch and I wouldn't have minded. However, it was just a small pile of yarn - about half a skein - that had been unravelled in our foyer.

He was right - it wasn't *actually* disastrous. And it brought a smile to Brian's face when I told him about it.