Nine Days with Stella

Donald went down to the beach to fish with his cousin and his dad. Then he got invited down to The Johnson's lake place. In all he was gone nine days from Friday March 3rd until Saturday the 11th.

Friday after school, we headed to Sylvester. We went straight to Nini and Grandaddy's to visit with Emily, Asher and Ivy. Paul and Ginger were on a cruise and Don was at the beach with Donald so the cousins had a sleepover. They rode on the golf cart, played outside, colored and watched TV together.

Saturday we drove to Lollipop's and hung out there for a while.  We took Bobcat road to get to my parents and I let Stella be my shotgun rider.

The neighbors goats had babies so we got to visit with them. They were just the cutest.  And I really wanted to take them home with me. Seriously.

That evening Stella and I headed to Casey White's wedding reception at The Potter Community Center. She and her husband eloped in Vegas just before Christmas. We haven't seen much of that side of the family since Nina stopped hosting our annual Holiday get together about 4-5 years ago. Some people had either never met Stella or only seen her once in her nearly four years on Earth.

This drive took us an hour which I was not expecting. I thought we'd never get there and at one point, thought we may be lost, but we made it. Whew!  We also got to view some of the tornado destruction from January on our drive. I don't know how Stella stayed awake on that drive considering how hard she'd played already, but she did....barely. She told me minutes before pulling up "Mama, I'm sleepy. Are we almost there?"

She instantly made friends with a few girls and a boy. They danced together and chased each other around and had a blast. Then she crashed. We left and she was passed out in a few minutes after leaving. She was awake for over 15 hours that day.

Sunday morning sunlight streaming in.....

Still in her party clothes

Sunday we went back to see the kids and feed the adult goats more produce scraps. We got a better view of two which had been hiding the day before and even got to hold one for a few minutes.

Can't resist a quick snap in front of old barn wood.

We rode over to Chris' so Pop could see the progress on his barn. 

I saw opportunity with this shot. Stairway to Heaven....

Before leaving town, we visited with Nina, but didn't make it to Grandpa's. This girl was soooo sleepy and fell asleep just a few miles before we got to his house.

She slept for a while and for supper I just drove straight to US Cafe. We ate outside on the patio which Stella enjoyed.

Monday after school, me and this girl had a movie date at The Picture Show. We watched the trailer for Moana and Sing that morning and I let her decide. By her reaction to the trailers I thought she would pick Sing, but she went with Moana.

Also, I don't know if I've ever bought popcorn at the movie theater before. It's just not my favorite thing. But Stella loves it and I was a bit snacky so I thought we'd get a bit. This is NOT a bit. This is a large. Oops. I knew I ordered a large (and a large drink), but I was not expecting this. I mean, I could nearly bathe her in this container. We ate maybe 1/4 of it. The remainder went in a gallon bag when we got home and I could barely seal it.

Tuesday we did story time at The Vinings Library. This was our second trip here. Stella built a tower and wanted me to photograph it to send to Daddy.

She even got her own library card!!  So proud of this girl. And so happy that reading is still one of her most favorite things to do!

We took advantage of a ScoutMob discount nearby and had lunch at Little Azio. I don't eat here often, but really like it.

Thursday, Stella had an appointment to see Dr. Aaron. She channeled her inner Pop when dressing herself, outfit completed socks with sandals.

Jokes aside, I couldn't be prouder. She was so brave. She told me she didn't need me to sit with her or beside her and she didn't even need to hold Teddy. So I was instructed to sit at the end of the chair, hold Teddy and watch how big she is.

Afterwards, we drove to a farm to get these beautiful and fresh chicken eggs. $7 for 30.

Friday, we had a play-date arranged with Wylie from dance class at Thompson Park. The weather was perfect.  Stella and I fed the ducks/geese from the deck.. 

....Then she did a little rock climbing before Wylie arrived.  I've seriously got to take this kid rock climbing somewhere.

In normal-for-Stella play-date happenings, the girls didn't really play all that well together for the first hour or so. They played, just separately. But the last 30 minutes or so they were all BFF. They even decided to sword fight.  With sticks. Totally safe.

Many trains came by during our time at the park. Most of the time the kids run like crazy to the fence when they hear the horn, but for this one, they decided to sit down to watch it pass by.

Saturday morning Stella and I had a "special breakfast" in the living room at the coffee table while watching TV.

Afterwards, we went downtown to watch the St. Patrick's Parade, but that's a separate post.

Donald got home that evening about 8:30 and we were both soooo excited to see him.

Stella slept beside me every night and sometimes we would just fell asleep together. Her mean and difficult phase which lasted about five really, really long weeks thankfully passed in February. These nine days with my star were just the best.