Caravan Turned Easter Disco Mobile or Memory Maker?

My car must have looked like a rave gone Easter crazy.
Children singing...heads were bopping all over the place...106.1 was blasting...laser light Easter Egg thingies were swinging!
...and to top it all off...
Addison had found my camera!!
Can you imagine it?
I was driving...trying not to look behind me, catching glimpses of funny faces in the rear view mirror and doing my best to ignore the constant flash of my camera.
IT WAS A HOOT!!
Yes, Virginia...There is an Easter Bunny and he's on crack and bouncing through my car!!!

My cousin, Amy would have appreciated this. It was straight out of our adventures in my Mom's true blue Camaro, way back in the early 80's. (I know, it's been a long time!) That car had the coolest ever hand made (by my Mom) black and white tape, piano keyboard on the dash. Perfect for a single chick with a hot rod or a young Mom!  Mom cranked out Stevie Wonder, Blondie, Stevie Nicks, Earth Wind and Fire or Seals and Crofts. Amy and I belted out the tunes...


"Diamond girl!!!!
Ooooh Oooohhh.
Sure do SHHHIIINNNNNNE!!!!!"

"Call MEEE!!
ON THE LINE!!!!
You can call ME, Call ME anytimme!
CALL MEEEE!!!!"

"The tide is high but I'm holding onnnnnnn...
I'm gonna be you're number onnnnne...numberrrrrr ONE!"

Oooh. Here's a good one! (Amy this on'e for you babe!)

"Ya talk of sweeties...bashful sweeties...I got ONE a' THOSE!
He's hansome as can beee...
But he worries meeeeeee!
He goes to college...gathers knowledge...OOhhh, What that boy KNOoOOoOoWWWSSsss!
He's up in his Latin and Greek...but in his Chicken (we never knew the real word) he's weeeaaaaKKKK!!
Cause when I need some lovin' and I gotta have some lovin'...
He says stop it! Stop it please!
He's so UNUSUAL!"

That one was Cyndi Lauper's He's So Unusual.
She came on whenever Amy and I seized control of the radio.

We were lucky to be growing up together.
-Lucky that we were the same age.
-Lucky that I had a Mom that didn't mind listening to two off pitch nine year olds!
There we'd sit...It didn't matter if my Mom was driving us somewhere or if the car was parked in the driveway.
-It was super cool.
...Sharing the front seat and outfitted in our Madonna gloves and high pony tails, complete with bandannas tied around our heads, with perfectly tied knots...
We were punky, pink, neon, wanna be rock stars.
Who am I kidding?!
We were rock stars in our own minds.
That was just as good as the real deal.

I was laughing my butt off as I drove away from Amy's house and across town, toward my own home.
I had stopped by her house to run her daughter, Amanda home.
Amanda wasn't staying.
This was not the plan.
The cousins had decided that an afternoon of play, park, bike rides, baby dolls, dinner and a walk around our block...
...WAS NOT ENOUGH.

Who am I to argue with that?
It is vacation...I'm only their Guardian...I was the "YES WOMAN" at this point.
It was fine by me.
Let the kids live it up. This was the last weekend before back to school routines started again.
For now I'll be the one that picks up all of the messes, plays taxi and keeps everyone, including Daddy happy.
I hope that I don't sound bitter...
I'M NOT...NOT AT ALL.
...JUST STATING IT...LAYING IT ON THE TABLE...NICE AND SIMPLE.
I AM MOM.
IT'S ALL COOL...IT'S ALL GOOD...REALLY!!

My vacation starts on Monday.

Amanda breezed into her house shouting something at her parents like," I'm only staying a minute!"
She was upstairs and packing her sleepover bag before I even walked in.
Gotta love it!
My three disbanded.
They scattered themselves to different parts of the house with different cousins.
...except for Gracie...
She had found a lost friend, her Uncle Ron.
The two of them laughed it up. Smiles, smiles and more smiles. It was adorable. Gracie is totally comfortable here.
This is the GODMOTHER'S HOUSE. (Amy is Grace's Godmother and Grace refers to her by this name.)
The GODMOTHER is amazing.
Her House is too!
Her kids, the cousins are fun!
No one but Amanda wanted to leave.
I rushed Addi and Grace out the door. Amanda had already rounded up Chloe and headed outside with her. I found them yelling at some neighborhood boys.
Amanda: " Get out of here!! Yeah...Get off my lawn!!"
Chloe: " She said GO!!"

We were pulling away and Amanda and Addison put their windows down fast.
Amanda got a quick shout in...
"You better get out of here!!!!"
Addi: "Yeah...you!!"

-OK. Thank God for the modern miracle that is the driver's side, window control panel.
BZZZZZZZZTT!
WINDOWS UP
CLICK!
WINDOWS IN CHILD LOCK MODE.


OMG. Let the fun begin.

Although we live close to one another our busy work and kiddie schedules manage to keep some distance between our families.

Days like this remind me that we can't allow ourselves to separate this easily.
Our lives have been intertwined forever.
We're lucky that we have each other.
In turn, our kids are lucky.

The Caravan...aka Easter Disco Mobile, was cruisin'...onto the "cousin sleepover."
At one point Amanda said,"Wow, Aunt Billie you're cool...you never yell or get loud."
I LAUGHED LOUDLY!
My response: Oh yeah? No way! Amanda you should talk to your cousins about that one! You haven't seen me in action.
...I had no interest in putting a stop to the kid insanity that had taken over my car.
I was enjoying it too much.
They had given me childhood flashbacks. - Really good ones.
I think I'm going to steal Amanda more often!

*The bright, glowing photos were taken in the Caravan by Addison.
*Amy and I in my side yard.
*Below: The next generation of girlie cousins. My girls, Amy's girls and Aunt Sally's girls.

Cousins posing behind their found object sculpture...another great day!