An Ettleson Weekend

Hi All!
Although my life in general can be described as relatively sucky, I would like to share some details about my amazing weekend with the Ettleson tots. Sara and I had so much fun "babysitting"!! For those of you who do not know, Mike and Jeri had some auto show obligations on Saturday, so we gladly took the Slippery Cat, the Birthday Man, the Beathen, and the ManChild under our wing. I should start by saying that all 6 Ettlesons came by mine and Sara's building to take a look at our apartments. I'm assuming their favorite part was either the tour of the laundry room or the glimpse into the creepy storage locker area; I forgot to take an official vote. So after M & J left the kids in our custody, we went to Lucky Strike, a bowling establishment of sorts. We started the evening off with dinner, sponsored by our dim-witted waitress. Let's just say that when I ask for another bottle of ketchup, I expect that bottle to be at least 3/4's full. Do not bring me a bottle that is already turned over on its top just so I can painstakingly squeeze out the remaining 5 droplets; I had to save my strength for the bowling, after all. Oh, and Matt also taught us the valuable lesson of waiting to order your beverage until AFTER the original order is in: that way, it's likely that it will be left off the bill. So after Matt "Moneybags" Ettleson treated us to dinner, we had to wait a bit for our lane to be ready, but when our buzzer thing finally went off, we were ready to rock. However, my rocking was slightly postponed due to a devastating shoe mix up: I had been given 2 right shoes. Upon my return to the shoe counter, I was then given in exchange for the extra right shoe another right shoe, followed by another, followed by another. This young man finally had to ask the dude next to him, "Man, where the @#$! are all the left shoes?" By the time I came back, Matt had already entered our names and it was, of course, my turn. I'm pretty sure I dominated that first frame with a commanding 6 pins. A tough act to follow, no doubt. The bowling fun continued and all the kids were awesome. Sara and I were pleasently surprised to find a plethora of 9/10 lb balls with big finger holes... what a concept! You hear that Hawthorne Lanes? I was less than pleased with the size of the water glasses. It was like at our Christmas dinner at the Chinese restaurant all over again: we were forced to ration the water. Daniel was on full alert, notifying me whenever an ice cube had appeared to melt a smidge in my glass, enabling me to enjoy 2 more precious sips. Good times. Upon the completion of bowling (where Daniel took home the gold), there was an unfortunate "hand-wipe" scene amidst the pool tables that embarassed Matt to his very core. We then walked down Michigan Avenue to the Hershey's store, a.k.a: total twilight zone. While paroosing the merchandise, I was unable to convince Matthew to buy a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup purse. I don't think he cared too much for the style. We got Jakey settled at the table with a chocolate chip cookie, with Matt arriving soon after with a cup of hot chocolate. Meanwhile, Sara, Lizzy, and I were sharing an experience that I'm pretty sure had Sara peeing in her pants with laughter. At the "Make Your Own Cupcake" center, Sara insisted that she did not want frosting on her chocolate cupcake, just Reese's Pieces. Although she clearly told the lady just to place the candy on the side, she still took the liberty to smash as many of those pieces of candy as she could into the cupcake itself with all of her body weight, resulting in a not-so-appealing finished product. Lizzy then asked for chocolate frosting on her cupcake, and I kid you not when I say the lady came back with 6 inches of frosting on top of it. I believe it was Daniel that said, "Whoa, did you want some cupcake with that frosting?" Although I could not see Lizzy's face directly, I later heard from Sara that she had never seen her look so terrified. So after telling the lady to lose about 4 and 1/2 inches of the frosting, we were all ready to sit and enjoy our goodies. Daniel partook in some of Sara Reese's Pieces and I unwillingly forced down part of her cupcake. All the meanwhile, Matt was caring for the third degree burn on his tongue, an unfortunate result of the the hot chocolate. On our way out, Matt offered me the rest of said hot chocolate, of which I took 2 good sips before promptly receiving a surplus of cocoa chunks in my teeth. Daniel then scolded Matt, telling him that he had not followed good "beverage sharing" etiquette. I had no choice but to concur. Upon returning to the hotel to drop off Lizzy and J.K., Jeri and Mike force-fed me popcorn which Mike had received as a gift. We stayed and kibbitzed for a bit while enjoying an intense episode of Deal or No Deal. Sara, Matt, Daniel, and I then cabbed it back to my crib where the boys would be staying on my luxurious pull-out bed. While Daniel watched ESPN, I was apparently engaging Matthew in what Sara referred to as "child labor" by having him take a look at my iPod and printer. After the abuse had terminated and Matt had worked his magic (seriously, there was no skill involved whatsoever) the boys went to bed while I stared at them thru my glass doors all night. I'm just kidding about that, by the way, so don't be scared boys. (I'm pretty confident that both Matt and Daniel are now making a mental note to self: DO NOT STAY AT LEAH'S EVER AGAIN.) Then the next day they were up and gone by 10:00 am :(So long story short, Sara and I had the most amazing weekend and I hope the kids agree.)

Lots of Love,
Leah Marie