Columbus Day Weekend

It’s kind of a weird title, if thought about too much. Because Columbus Day is just a day. But it gets upgraded (or something) to a “weekend” because it’s one of those floating holidays that happens on a 1st or 2nd (or whatever) day of the month. In this case, it’s the 2nd Monday of October. But then it’s not just a weekend because the kids get the Monday off. To make matters more looney this year, the teachers have an in-service day on Tuesday, making it a 4 day weekend.

So it’s a day, that’s a weekend, that’s a long weekend, that’s even longer than normal. Kind of like this thought…

We spent yesterday with friends doing traditional, fall New England activities. We all met up at a road race, which was sponsored by a local church. After a little lunch, the kids ran in a “Kid’s Race” which was a 20-yard sprint. Our group had 6 kids total, 4 of whom were entered in the race. They took 1, 2, 3 in the sprint. YAY!

There was no crying from everyone who didn’t win. Double YAY! The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners each got a ribbon. Triple YAY! All the kids got bags of junk as a “Thanks for playing” gift. YA- mmm, hmmmph. More crap to throw away.

The boy came came in 2nd in the race. And since I’ve taken the time to point out his trouble with sportsmanship, I feel compelled to report that he congratulated his friend whom won without any prompting by myself or the Wife.

After the race, we went to an apple orchard from some good ol’ fashioned apple pickin’ fun. And corn mazin’ fun too. The corn maze was an adventure. First, it was loooong. All 6 of the kids went running into the maze without any inhibitions. Theoretically, all us Dads were supposed to shepherd them through the thing. The reality is that most of them shot ahead with one of the Dads, and the rest of us wandered around aimlessly trying to make sure all the kids were accounted for. The whole “let’s stay together thing” barely lasted our entry into the maze.

So when I and one of the other Dad’s finally emerged from the maze 30 minutes later, we were informed that the kids had come out a while ago and had gone back in to find us. So I headed back in to find them. I found them quick enough, but then couldn’t escape a little circle (I wasn’t lost– I was entending my understanding of the route through the maze…). Eventually, another Dad came along and we found our way out. But not before the boy got himself a little worked up about being lost in the maze. When we finally did make it out, he wasn’t interested in going back in.

The day finished back at the friend’s place with a pot-luck dinner. The kids ran around most of the evening playing games like hide-and-seek, tag, and something with sticks. Miraculously, no one lost an eye. The night ended with them watching The Wizard of Oz. Of the bunch, the lass seemed to be the most interested in watching the movie; though, by the end, all of them were watching intently to see how it to see if Dorothy would make it home. Mercifully, the dreaded flying-monkey scene didn’t seem to phase any of them too much.

As for us, the day ended with a long ride home. No ruby-red slippers for us. By that time, it was well passed the kids’ normal bedtime. They were asleep shortly after we hit the road. A Columbus Day… weekend… day, well spent.