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Despite Saturday’s disappointment, our weekend turned out pretty good!

First of all, I need to update you on Saturday’s Kiddieland fiasco.  As I said before, the trip to McDonald’s seemed to placate everyone.  Dan and I were still seething, but luckily, our children recover pretty quickly.  On Saturday evening I did receive a phone call from the woman in charge of the outing.  She was extremely apologetic.   A few things led to our demise:  a) woman was not able to pre-purchase tickets as planned; b) woman was late arriving due to a school track meet; c) woman had to stand in looooooonnnnnngggggg line; d) Kiddieland was experiencing record crowds due to its impending closure (normally, you can walk right up to the gate, purchase your tickets and go in – no lines.); e) only three scout families participated in the event; f) as I mentioned previously, we don’t know a lot of people yet, so it makes recognizing one another difficult.  And, no one (us included) wore a uniform.

I felt much better after the phone call and Dan and I are contemplating trying to take the kids this coming weekend.  It’s the final weekend Kiddieland is open.  I’m sure it will be crazy, but knowing now about the crowds, I think we can coordinate something.

If Saturday’s call made us feel better, Sunday made us feel terrific.  First of all, this Sunday was the monthly Scout Mass.  We were hesitant about participating after Saturday, but Dan and Jack showed up in uniform and Jack was thrilled to be there.  He saw plenty of his friends and Dan met several people, as well.  Oh, we also got our Kiddieland check back.  Mass was great (for the scouts anyway).

Later in the afternoon, we headed back up to church/school for the annual parish picnic.  It was WONDERFUL!  We saw tons of people we knew from school, Jack and Maria both found friends immediately upon arriving, and there was plenty to do… for free!  All of the bouncies and midway-type games were free.  There was also face painting (Jack kept those poor girls busy), tatoos, crafts, and an excellent emcee/DJ.  The food was good, and Jack expressed a desire to help the scouts sell soda next year.

As we left, Jack told me, “This definitely makes up for Kiddieland!” and as we walked home Dan (!) told me how much he liked being part of this school and parish.  That’s really saying something!  No wonder there are so many alumni families.

Tonight, Jack and Dan are at a Scout meeting.  (Earlier this afternoon, Jack’s new den mother called to introduce herself to me and to make sure we knew about tonight’s meeting.)

Saturday was definitely a fluke.  Unfortunate, yes, but we are so over it.