Dandy Encounter

One of my vacation lists included items to place in a "Friday Night Bag," so that we could take only one bag into Pop and Ardy's house instead of trying to find all we needed throughout several different suitcases. In it I placed beauty products, pajamas, medicine, and Saturday's clothes. Because I would be meeting Laurie's family for the first time, I took special care in choosing our clothes for Saturday--no scummy camping clothes for that get-together even though we would be setting up camp that evening.

Anticipating Hannah's messiness (as documented by every single picture we've taken of her so far this vacation), I packed a cute, new outfit and included a bib and an over sized t-shirt to wear over the new clothes for protection. Surely we could make the three-hour trip to Denver in relative cleanliness.

Wrong.

First, I decided to keep the shirt in the front seat instead of on Hannah in order to protect it. From Hannah. I didn't consider that I might need to protect it from me. I placed the shirt in a box that rested on the front floor's "hump," directly under our cup holder. I positioned my bottle of Coke--with the cap ON--in the cup holder while I hunted for my new camera's instruction booklet. BAM! Carl hit a huge bump on I-70. For a few seconds I couldn't identify the spewing sound. When I finally realized the bottle of Coke had landed on the new shirt and burst open, it was too late. So much for the cute shirt.

Oh well, the lime green gingham shorts with a ruffled hemline remained clean. I could scrounge up something to match before we hit Denver.

Of course, Hannah chose to sit on the ground at the rest stop and get her butt dirty. However, even that no longer mattered after she wet her pants. Three hours, people. Can we not make it three hours???

When we finally arrived at Laurie's, Hannah wore the over sized protective t-shirt that completely covered Friday's shorts like a dress. Nobody cared except me...and even I didn't care any more after the warm welcome we received.

We planned to stay at Laurie's for one--maybe one and a half--hours. We ended up staying closer to two and a half hours and I could've stayed hours more. We only scratched the surface. The sandwiches were wonderful, served with triangle wedges of fresh red watermelon, orange slices of cantaloupe and pasta salad. I couldn't believe the hospitality we received from someone we had never actually met.

Hannah and Rose, our two dandy girls, took a little while to warm up to each other, but eventually played together very well. I wish I had a better picture than this one. Can you believe Rose is only one and a half years older than Hannah???




The hit of the visit? Dry ice. Awesome! Peter, Laurie's husband, teaches 7th and 8th grade science and clearly loves his subject. Carl couldn't even get him with his typical Have you ever seen anyone suck an egg into a bottle question. Yep. Been there, done that. Peter could even explain why it's possible.

We had dry ice on stage during my high school musical, but never have I played with it. The kids added food coloring and hot water to make smoking concoctions.








At one point Hailey cut her toe so that a tiny droplet of blood bubbled, but did not run. I felt right at home and knew I had found a like-minded sister when Laurie and I said in unison, "If that's the worst thing that happens to you..."

When we finally decided not to overstay our welcome, Hannah exhibited her usual discomfort in making the transition by throwing a somewhat mild fit. It was a new and welcome experience to hear someone else say with an understanding that comes only from experience, "I know. Transitions are hard, aren't they, Hannah?" I'm still processing the fact that I've met someone in person who is also raising a dandy girl, complete with transitional difficulties, sensory stuff, special classrooms...the whole shebang. What a blessing.

Here are our two special girls just before saying goodbye.



Thanks again, Laurie, Peter and Andy (I didn't even mention Andy--ack!) for a wonderful visit. Next time you're traveling through scenic southeast Kansas, stop on by.