I took Milly to school this morning then picked her up later.  I made sure to take the Lightning McQueen tent we picked up from Charles and Deanna so I could hand it off to the Warkentiens.  I let Milly give it to Eli when I picked her up.  He was pretty excited about it.

Karen called this afternoon and asked about taking Milly to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.  She was in town anyway.  After she called I told Milly someone was going to surprise her.  We went outside to wait and rode our bikes together for a bit.  Milly went down the hill (slope, really) of the cul-de-sac at the end of the street and biked all the way back up.  I was proud of her.

Here’s an exchange Karen posted on Facebook that happened while they were out:

As a surprise, I took my granddaughter to see a movie. During the movie she whispered to me, “Nana I have a surprise for you after the movie”.

After the movie…
Milly: Are you ready for your surprise?
Me: Yes, what is it?
Milly: We get to go to Brilliant Sky, so you can buy me a little toy.

While it’s funny, Amanda and I have got to rein in Milly’s expectations a bit.  She’s always wanting a surprise, it seems, and the surprise almost always has to be a toy or she gets disappointed or upset.  And it’s not that we haven’t been trying to teach her gratitude or anything.

Not a whole lot else went on today.  I decided to use the MacBook to work a little while hanging out in the living room.  It was a compromise of sorts that allowed me to be in the room with Amanda and Milly while still getting a little more work done.

Zach Dotsey