Sweet Impromptu

The girls had a dentist appointment yesterday afternoon.  The game plan was for Hubby to take them, and I’d join everyone for the dentist’s walkthrough at the end of the appointment.  I left work 30 minutes early, thinking my timing would be perfect.  I guess they were running ahead of schedule, though, as I got the call that they were all done when I was a couple of blocks away from the dentist's office.

(Everyone got a good report…hooray!)

It was about 4:15, which is far before suppertime in my book.  But…we were SO CLOSE to downtown.  We decided to head that way and take advantage of a happy hour appetizer special somewhere.

Before making our restaurant choice, we stopped by the jewelry store to pick up the beads the girls ordered for their bracelets (the ones they get for each tooth they lose).  Then we landed next door at a new little restaurant, one we checked out for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

We enjoyed a yummy, relatively lightly supper.  What a treat it was, on a random Monday late afternoon, to hang out with my girlies downtown!  We talked about their day, they asked about mine, and we fantasized about vacation.  Even after a normal (semi-hectic) day of work, our dinner felt so leisurely!

We finished supper and it was barely 5:30.  We had two cars, and Hubby declared he had an errand to run.  I decided I wasn’t quite ready for our adventure to end…so I drove the girls to get some yogurt.  They were almost incredulous that we would do that after supper!  (I think they always consider yogurt a mid-afternoon treat…the thought of having it so late in the day drew gasps of surprise!)

(I'm growing to appreciate the goofy charm of a selfie...at least the [awkward!] way I take them!)

After we savored every last spoonful of yogurt, we headed home.  It was a HOT afternoon – still about 90 degrees – but the driveway was mostly shady.  The girls jumped at the chance to ride their bikes for a few minutes.

Just as they were donning their helmets, Hubby pulled into the driveway.  He took over chaperone duty while I changed out of my work clothes.  I got to witness a few final spins up and down the drive (and WOW how the girls have improved since last week!!!).

We headed in and had a quick shower before bedtime.  I told the girls we could read some Little House as a bedtime story, and they were again elated.  We’re reading through a very harrowing part (book 6, The Long Winter).  We read a chapter and a half – and by that time put us a little late for bed.  They begged for just one more chapter, but I had to finally tell them we’d packed all the adventure we could into the afternoon.

Just as I was tucking the girls into bed, Daddy came upstairs for one last hug.  We all finished the day with big smiles on our faces.

What a wonderful afternoon of impromptu we enjoyed.  Some of life’s simple pleasures, for sure.