Girl's weekend out

Hey everyone! 
So last night, Rose came up with the idea that, starting Saturday, we'd have a 'girl's weekend out'. 
"We'd explore all over the place, and watch movies or something, and ride Maximus, and maybe Merida could teach us how to shoot her bow, if she wants, and Rapunzel could show us the world of blogging...and we'll just get to know each other!  We'd be back Sunday night."  Rose explained. 
"All of us?  You, Rayne, me, Merida, Blondie, and Lacey?"  I asked, quirking my brow. 
"Yeah!  It'll be fun!" 
Merida glanced at me - she knew what I was thinking.  "What about the kiddos?"
"Well..Flynn could watch them," Blondie said.  "I think it's an awesome idea!" 
Flynn walked over.  "What are you girls scheming?  Or do I want to know?"  He joked, and I gave him a playful punch on the arm before I took him by the hand. 
"A girl's weekend out!"  Rose told him excitedly.  "Wait..you could watch the kids, couldn't you?" 
Flynn shrugged.  "How long is the weekend out?" 
"Tomorrow morning, bright and early, until Sunday night." 
I looked up at Flynn.  I wasn't sure I wanted to be away from my girls or my hubby for that long.  I mean, yeah, it's not that long, but still.  "I'll stay here and help with the kids - the rest of you can go!"  I offered. 
Please say yes, please say yes, please say-
"If I'm goin', yer goin', too."  Merida informed me. 
"I can watch the girls, that's no problem," Flynn said.  "They're not that bad - but I probably just jinxed myself, there." 
Everyone chuckled, and then I heaved a sigh.  "Maybe ALL of us could go.  Like literally all of us." 
"Then it wouldn't be a girl's weekend out."  Lacey pointed out. 
"It's not a problem for me to watch the girls.  It'll give me some good father/daughter time with Lexi and Jase."  My hubby said. 

I wasn't going to get out of this...was I. 
"Then it's all set!"  Rose clapped excitedly. "We'll get up at six tomorrow!" 
What was it with Rose and getting up at six?  She ALWAYS did...I don't know how the girl does it, but she does. 
Murmers of 'okay' scattered through our little group, and we parted ways to get ready for bed. 
After the girls were asleep, Flynn and I headed to bed. 

I didn't lay down, though.  I sat and pulled my knees to my chest, biting my lip.  I admit that I was really nervous about our weekend out thing.  What if something happened?  What if Flynn ended up with a migraine, didn't tell anyone, and it got really bad, and he had to keep the girls?  What if...what if...what if. 
"Hey...what's wrong?" Flynn had lain down and shut his eyes, but when he realized I wasn't beside him, he scooted over to me and sat up, putting an arm round my shoulders. 
"Just me being weird and paranoid," I shrugged, not wanting to admit my concerns. 
"Spit it out, dearest girl," he peered down at my face, a concerned look on his. 
"Just...I have my reservations about going with the girls.  I don't really want to stay away from you or the girls for that long.  And what if you end up with a bad migraine?  What if something happens to US?  I mean, seriously.  We're just twelve inch hunks of plastic.  Anything could happen.  And-"
He took my chin in his hand and pulled me into  a gentle kiss.  I put my arms around him and returned it.  When I pulled away, I leaned my head on his shoulder and stared up at him, not taking my arms from him.  He drew in a deep breath before pulling me onto his lap.  For once, I didn't grumble about it. 
"You can't worry about that.  And you can't just be a stick-in-the-mud.  So take risks, take chances...go have fun with life.  And don't worry about me, baby.  Worrying is silly.  If it makes you feel better, I'll be a nervous wreck, too." 
"Then I won't go!"  I exclaimed, pulling my head up from his shoulder and leaning back to look at him.  "If you're nervous, too, I just won't go!  Problem solved!" 
"By that, I meant that you're not weird or paranoid.  I didn't mean to give you an out," he said with a chuckle. 
I sighed and rolled my eyes.  "I suppose they won't let me stay back." 
"Probably not.  Merida's pretty convincing, and Rose is dead-set, to be frank."  Flynn told me.  I nodded, and he pulled me close again.  "It'll be fine.  Now, you need to go to sleep - early start for you, by the sounds of things.  I get to sleep in until the girls get up!" 
I shook my head, giggling to myself.  "You're mean." 
He chuckled and kissed my forehead.  "But it made you giggle, and that's what matters!" 
I gave him one last squeeze, and then laid down to go to sleep. 


Six A.M. came wayyyy too early.  When everyone else started moving around, I woke up as well. 
Flynn was still fast asleep, and I smiled at his peaceful face.  Wishing I could wait until him and the girls were up, so I could tell them bye, I sighed.  I carefully set the handkerchief over him and then crawled out from under the bench. 
"Oh, good!  You're up.  Here, help me carry this, and this, oh-and this, and these rubber bands.  Oh, and-" Rose promptly started handing things at me. 
"I can't carry anything else," I broke her off. 
"There isn't anything else.  I was going to ask if you were ready." 
"Oh, sorry!  Um...yeah, I'm ready," I cast a glance over my girls and then nodded. 
"They'll be fine - I'm sure Flynn will take excellent care of them."  Lacey said. 
"I know," I smiled, and then we left. 

First things first  - where were  we going to sleep?  Rose didn't want to go back to the dresser to sleep, so we had to scout out a safe location to sleep at. 
Merida led the way, and pretty soon, we'd found a pretty good spot to sleep at.  We left all the stuff there, and then we all turned to Rose. 
"What're we going to do first?" 
"Well...hmm.  We could watch movies?" 
"Let's save that for when we're tired," Merida suggested.  "Let's go see the 18 inchers." 
"18...inchers?"  Rose asked, quirking a brow.
"Yeah.  Dolls.  They're pretty cool!"  Merida explained, and I nodded in agreement. 

Merida, Rose, and I led the way, while Blondie, Rayne, and Lacey lagged behind.
We made quick work of climbing up the shelving unit, and then we went from shelf to shelf, talking with everyone. 
As always, Kailey was snooty towards us.
When I tried to include her in a conversation, she didn't even look at me. 
Finally, since Hailey was on the same shelf as Kailey, I walked over and whispered in her ear. 
"What's the deal with Kailey?" 
"Oh..." Hailey glanced towards her, and then whispered in my ear.  "She's shy because she's afraid you won't like her.  She's got hearing disabilities, so you have to speak up a bit around her, or let her read your lips.  And she doesn't like to talk because of it, too." 
I felt horrible.  Absolutely horrible.  "Oh my gosh...I-"
"It's fine.  Just keep that in mind," Hailey told me, and I nodded. 
"Thanks for...for informing me on that," I told her. 
I wanted to hug Kailey, or do something, but I knew it would only upset her, so I didn't. 
Pretty soon, we left that shelf, and moved onto the next, which was right beside the other one. 

We talked with them for a good long while, but finally, Rose got antsy and we left. 
Next, I suggested we ride Maximus, and then blog. 

We rode for quite a while, and Maximus was VERY well behaved. 
Rose fell in absolute, positive love with Max, and Lacey even showed some reserved affection towards him, which he was very pleased to recieve (:
Rayne, knowing of Max's shenanigans, was very concerned about riding him. 
"What if he bucks me off?  I do NOT want to get this dress-"
"He's fine.  I promise...if he would've been planning on acting up, he would have done so already."  I told her.
 "But I've never ridden before!"
"Everyone's gotta start somewhere.  But if you don't want to..." Merida trailed off. 
"Oh, fine..." she grumbled, accepting Merida's help up into the saddle. 
When she got off of him half an hour later, her eyes were shining. 
"I must admit that this is very fun!  Thanks, Maximus, for being a good boy!"  she leaned down to give him a hug around the neck before she reluctantly dismounted. 
Blondie went next, and then we headed off to blog. 

By the time  we were done with that, night was falling and Rose was dead-set on creating a blog with Lacey. 
Lacey had her reservations, as she usually did, but I'm pretty sure that Rose will figure out how to talk her into it one way or another ;)
We got back to our 'camping' spot, and we all brushed out our hair and went to bed.  (Well, except for Rayne and Merida - they're the lucky ones to not have tons of hair to brush  out!) 
I tossed and turned a LOT.  I wasn't used to the unfamiliar surroundings, and for the first time in over 2 months, my hubby wasn't right there beside me.  I wondered how he'd fared with the four girls.  He was probably having a blast with Jase, and Lexi was probably going along with whatever Jase told her to do...and hopefully, the babies were being good. 
Either that, or Flynn was a nervous wreck, Jase and Lexi were fighting over something, and the babies were screaming their heads off. 
I curled up in a ball on my side, sighed, and FINALLY went to sleep. 


The next morning, we got up at nine.  Thank goodness - Rose had been tuckered out enough not to get us all up at six AM!  I was groggy from my un-restful night, and it seemed like everyone else was pretty foggy as well.  Merida stood up too quickly, and stumbled into me.  Laughing, I grabbed her arm and held her upright. 
"I did NOT sleep well," she moaned, rubbing at her eyes. 
"Me neither." 
"I miss my baby girl, too," she added in a whisper. 
"I miss my kids AND Flynn," I agreed.  "But we'll see them tonight!" 
"I can't wait," she said, and then we were off. 

First thing's first - we went to visit Punzie and her friend Addison. 
"Oh, Rapunzel!  How's Jase doing?" Punzie immediately asked me, a bright smile on her face. 
"Hi, Punzie!  Jase is doing great.  How are you?" 
"I've been good," she nodded.  "Who are your friends?  I recognize Merida, but.."
"Rose, Lacey, Rayne, and Blondie," I pointed each of them out.
'Nice to meet yous' murmered throughout our group, and then we  sat down for a good long chat.
It was probably around eleven before we finally got away.  Punzie was quite the talkative one! 
"Now...let the games begin.  Why don't we shoot?"  Merida asked. 
"Oh, great!"  Rose exclaimed. "I can't wait!" 

Merida, being the awesome archery teacher she is, demonstrated for everyone how to do it. 
Blondie sat out on this one, because of her arms, which lacked articulation....and, she added, she wanted to stay out of harm's way.  I can't say I blame her.  :P
Rose was surprisingly really good at shooting.  Lacey and Rayne...not so much.  And you all know me...I'm horrible. 
We got several good laughs over our combined lack of shooting capabilities...and we all marveled at Rose and Merida's obvious talent. 
"I didn't know you were a world-class archer, Rose!  I knew Merida was, but.." I joked. 
"Oh, well thank you, milady!"  Rose giggled, curtsying. 
I laughed, and Lacey slung an arm around her sister's shoulders.  "So, little sis...what'cha say?  Why don't you rub some of your awesome-ness onto me?" 
We all laughed harder, and I grinned, excited to see Lacey was starting to get along better with Rose.  Maybe this girls' weekend out had been just the thing for the two of them.  I really hoped so! 

After that, we showed Lacey and Rose around the room.  After we'd explored every nook and cranny, we sprawled out on the windowsill for awhile, enjoying the sunshine.  
"This view is amazing," Rose exclaimed, peering out the window. 
"Isn't it?  This is probably my favorite place to sit at," I said, and she grinned. 
"I can see why!" 
"The sun is hitting just perfectly on this window right now...it's nice and warm, but not so warm that it will make our  plastic all squishy."  Rayne said, closing her eyes and tipping her head up towards the sunlight. 
We all stuck around for awhile, and then in the afternoon, we got Tangled, Tangled Ever After, and Brave and watched it on Tangled Fan's laptop. 
Rose and Lacey had never seen Tangled; none of us had seen Tangled Ever After, and Brave was new to all of us. 
At the lantern scene in Tangled, I think just about all of us burst forth in song, except for Blondie and Merida xD  Lacey has a very clear and high singing voice, and her and Rose singing together?  They're beautiful!  Rayne's not too shabby either...and then there's me :P  And at the end, I think even Merida had to sniffle back a few tears.  Then came Tangled Ever After...we all laughed sooo hard!  It's only, like, six minutes long, but it's packed full of hilariousness!  :D  At the end, I couldn't help but have a little 'squee' moment, thinking back to my own marriage.  Which made me want to get back to the kiddos and Flynn even more so.. =]  And then we watched Brave. 
It had quite a few funny scenes, but it has a more dark theme than Tangled does.  Mor'du actually scared me the first time they showed him...I jumped all over and almost fell backwards.  And then everyone laughed at me :P  We were all getting pretty sniffly at the end, when Merida's trying to 'mend the bond torn by pride' with her mother...rather, Mum-Bear.  Merida's chin was wobbling, and Rose made me burst out laughing by whispering in my ear. 
"I'm not gonna cry.  I'm not gonna cry.  Are you gonna cry?  I'm not gonna cry."
When I laughed, everyone else turned to give me a 'what-on-earth?' expression. 
"Sorry...Rose started it," I giggled, and Rose gave me a playful shove. 

After the movies, it was growing dark, so we finally went back to our 'campsite' to gather our stuff, and we went back to the dresser. 
It was ten before we got back, and I was the very last one to fumble up onto the dresser in the dark. 
All was quiet, the kiddos were sleeping, and it seems to me that as soon  as everyone had crawled up onto the dresser, they'd promptly gone to bed.  I heard Merida, who was in line in front of me, flop down with a thud and a loud, tired yawn. 
I grinned to myself, but then I saw a silhouette staring at me, watching my every movement.  I gasped, putting a hand over my heart in immediate fear, but then as I peered through the darkness, I saw a certain grin on a certain somebody's face. 
I'd thought he had been asleep!  As soon as I realized it was my hubby, my heart fluttered and I hurried over towards him before launching myself into his waiting arms.  He chuckled to himself and lifted me off the ground, swung me in a quick circle, and then left my feet go back onto the floor.  I looked up at his face, a broad smile across my face as I was finally able to somewhat see one of the faces I'd missed so much this weekend...sappy, I know.  :D He gave me the same kind of smile, and I buried my face into his shoulder, tightening my arms around him; and then he nuzzled my hair for a  few seconds before he left go of me.  I reluctantly did the same, but then his hand slid down my arm to find my hand, and he grasped it tightly before leading me over to bed. 
I flopped down to face him, and he did the same, and I smiled. 
Brushing my hair from my face with a gentle hand before he set it on my waist, he whispered, "So, how was your weekend?" 
"Interesting.  Tiring"-I said as I stifled a yawn-"and funny.  We got archery lessons from Merida, rode, talked with the 18 inchers and Punzie...watched Tangled, Tangled Ever After, and Brave - you HAVE to watch Tangled Ever After with me.  It's so adorable and funny!  You should've heard Rayne, Rose, and Lacey sing during I See the Light.  Oh my goodness, their voices are gorgeous...and then there's me, warbling along and ruining everything, but singing it because I love it so much!  And we showed Lacey and Rose around the room.  Oh, and I introduced everyone to the Blogiverse." 
He chuckled.  "Well...I bet the archery lessons were really funny.  You'll have to tell me about them tomorrow!  It seems like you had a good time..I'm glad.  And I'd be pleased to watch it with you, anytime you want to, just let me know!  But wait.  You introduced ROSE to the Blogiverse?" 
"She says she's always wanted one," I said. 
"Those poor people if she begins a blog.  Her posts would be so long that the readers' eyes would fall out before they even got halfway through!" 
I stifled a giggle.  "Yeah...probably." 
He thought for a moment, and then spoke again.  "And what's this about you 'warbling along and ruining everything'?  Your voice is fine." 
"Oh, but you've never heard Rose sing.  She's positively stunning!  And her sister isn't bad, either.  They sound just as good as Mandy Moore!  I'm sorry you ended up with the single Rapunzel doll ever manufactured, who cannot sing her own songs to save her life...the girl who can't sing, yet likes to, to some extent." 
Pulling me close, he whispered in my ear, "But I wouldn't trade her for the world.  You're just fine.  In fact...I think you're perfect.  And  I love you...and I missed you this weekend!" 
I teared up at that.  Maybe it was because I was so tired, I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.  Or maybe it was because I'm a complete and utter, sappy freak.  But regardless.  I buried my face into his chest and he held me until I got my teary eyes under control and then I pulled away from him.  He found my hand and held it loosely, and my heart squeezed. 
"I missed you, too.  Love you bunches," I gave him a smile and then quickly pulled my hand away to cover my mouth, yawning. 
He grinned, and then stroked my cheek with the back of his hand.  "Why don't we go for a walk tomorrow, and we can catch up then, okay?  Much as I'd like to stay up and talk, you're tired and you need to shut those gorgeous eyes of yours before too much longer." 
"Sounds like a great plan," I trailed off, and I heard him start to say something, but I was out before he was done.