Don't let it end....

We had an awesome weekend with our friends from the Philly area, lots of fun, lots of laughter over games, bike rides to the magic shop, pictures of a brand new coven of witches who are closely related to us...but it ended much too soon. For teens and tweens, this means it should have gone on for another several days as both families were in vacation mode for spring break. That's probably why the "pouty prince" graced us with a royal appearance as our friends pulled away from our door.

We waved goodbye and I turned toward our house, commenting on how much fun we'd had over the past few days. That's when my oldest son said, "Sure, until you spoiled it all." and stomped off. How did I spoil an otherwise perfect weekend? By refusing to let him jump into their vehicle and head out of state with them without a passing thought to how he would get home again. Sigh...ah, well. It was to be expected; saying goodbye is hard and someone else is surely to blame when you're a teenager. Might as well be Mom...who you have figured out will forgive you even before you've returned to your senses. He did manage to work through his feelings, came to me later to apologize. He told me that he was just overtired and sad to see his friend from Kazakhstan leave. Me, too, sweetie. It was still just a wonderful weekend for all of us.


Picture it...nine adolescents (4 boys and 5 girls...and did I mention that 7 of the nine were adopted from Kazakhstan?) having pretty much a giant 3 night sleepover which included:

• Lots of loud music and even louder teen chatter. 
• Vast quantities of sugar and snack foods 
• Manicures and pedicures
• Video and computer games
• Shopping for souvenirs in a variety of Witch City magic shops and mystical emporiums
• A quick and dirty tour of Witch City's highlights and historical sights
• The burning of spell candles and the offering of incantations by our newly minted coven members. 
• A visit to our favorite Russian store for a sleepover feast 
• Sushki, pelmeni, kolbasa, and Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs
• Cutthroat games of musical chairs and freeze dance rounds 
• A waiver of bedtimes in favor of late night movies and raids on the refrigerator
• The enjoyment of old friendships
• The formation of new friendships

The girls began to consider Wicca at the Bewitched statue.

We all played with interactive exhibits at the Peabody Essex museum.

We even hung out with the Easter bunny.

We linked the past with the future.

We took advantage of the nice weather to eat Mexican food for lunch at the edge of the local fountain.

Musical chairs, teen style...competitive...dangerous...and they cheat.

 Anne, we can't wait for you all to visit again soon...the house is waaay too quiet with just the 7 of us and we miss you. Hugs from our crew to yours!