Mom got in from a flight late and Dad left the house a bit late so they arrived at about 11 on Friday evening right in the middle of the "Elephant Love Medley" during the Moulin Rouge screening that was taking place in our room. Peter's younger sister Catherine had never seen it and so my bed was cramped with people. Colleen, Kate, Julie, Peter and I were in the middle of the sing-along as my parents walked in. Peter wins points for the best introduction, in sync with Ewan MacGregor, he changed the words of the song and made them in to "Hiiiiiiii, my name is Peeeeeterrrrr". It worked marvelously as an icebreaker and after a brief tour of the dorm, yet again, they said goodnight and headed to the bed and breakfast.
I had to get up early for swim practice, an event I'm beginning to hate more and more and more as the days go by, but they met me at the cafe in the student center for breakfast and we headed to the senior residences for the swim team bbq where the coach snubbed my mother and rubbed elbows with my father, Dad also made connections with another Italian father and now if I ever need a place to stay, I'm more than welcome at that family's house. The child is a freshman boy that I had hardly ever, and still rarely talk to. At least he was trying, I appreciated that. Mom was her usual social butterfly self, she chatted with the senior guys captain's parents.
Then it was back off to the dorm to change and make our way to the football game. We watched the second quarter and then shuttled off to the B&B so I could get my toddler and puppy fix as the proprietors had both. We spent a good couple happy hours there, Dad wresting the worn tennis ball from the dog, Cedar, and me and Mom spending our time with the adorable little girl, reading and flipping through her books. When we had to leave, she started sobbing. Apparently the same thing had happened earlier that morning when my parents had left, so I suppose it was a bit cruel to do it to her again. But we had reservations to get to.
So back to the dorm for a third time we trekked, meeting up with my roommate and her mom and the other families that were going to dinner. My friends and I had all decided at the beginning of the week before that we wanted our parents to get together and chat and become as good of friends as we were, so we all caravaned out to a restaurant about 15 minutes away, the only place that could hold all 24 of us on such short notice. Parents sat at their table and chatted, presumably about us but no one can really be sure, and the college students and various siblings staked out a "kids table". It was a blast, Kate's twin Sara and Matt had an art-off as they attempted to outdo each other in artistic drawings. Really, it was a wipe out with Matt feebly trying to keep up with Sara who goes to a school for the arts specifically. The kids finished and got our checks before the parents, so we went to wait outside so as not to crowd the building. Kate's dog was in the car so we got him out and had fun running around with him for a bit before we broke off to our separate cars to head back with our parents.
The next day, it was a brunch that seemed to brief at the cafeteria, and a quick tour of the bookstore again before they had to leave. Mom had work early the next morning and the drive home is already exhaustingly long. So I stood on the steps and cried as I waved them off. I'm not a big fan of goodbyes, especially since home is so far away. The only reason I probably stopped crying really was because I knew I would see them in 10 days for the mid-semester break. But still, it hurts to say goodbye.
