A Happy Reunion

So yesterday was kind of a hairy day. Cailin was wild, at best, for most of the day. Even taking her outside to blow off steam didn't stem the energy she was expelling. Bailey too was a little on the eccentric side, pacing and running about the house and yard, never settling in one spot for too long.

It was like they knew Ryan was on his way home.

I was pulling my hair out by suppertime. The kid and dog were doing laps around the house making as much noise as they possibly could make. I wondered a few times how creatures so much on the small side could produce the cacophony my eardrums were being subjected to.

Finally the hours ticked down and it was getting time to ready ourselves to pick Daddy up from the airport. Then he texted that the plane was delayed by 30 minutes. Not a huge deal, but that's another half hour Cailin would be up past her bedtime. Already acting like a monkey on glue, I wasn't sure how the walls would remain standing if she was up too late again.

I put up with their antics for a while yet, then gathered my pajama-clad dynamo and went to drop off movies before getting Daddy. I sighed in frustration looking at the clock. We still had 25 minutes to burn before Daddy even got off the plane. Going against my better judgement, I let the Smartie loose in the movie store. Oh boy.

You know that kid in the movie store that runs around crazy and tosses DVDs and candy everywhere, begs for chips and gets into everything and you think, "Lordy, I'm glad that's not my child"? Or perhaps, "Where is your mother"? Well, that was my child last night. She ran around collecting movies and tossing them around while I waddled and puffed after her, picked up her mess and waddled and puffed after her some more. Thank goodness she's cute and everyone thought she was hilarious. I did get some pitying looks though. Maybe because my pants were ill-fitting?

We managed to survive the DVD fury that was, got one movie out of the deal (free rental, woot!) and got strapped back into the carseat with only a little sweat on my brow. At which point Ryan called and said he had landed - apparently the pilot had really put a fire under it and they were only 15 minutes late instead of the proposed half hour. He suggested parking outside the door and he'd run out to the pickup so we didn't have to come in. I readily agreed, not too eager to release the Smartie in the airport after all. Security and such, you understand.

I had grand dreams of waiting for Daddy while the plane landed and sharing a beautiful family reunion in the bustle of the airport, but hey, sometimes real life happens. And this little beauty? Was on rampage mode.

Daddy was able to get out to the pickup before anyone threatened me with a towing, and was Cailin ever happy to see him! She talked to him all the way home, dancing and wiggling in her seat. Once we got home, I expected Bailey to be all over Ryan like white on rice. She politely wagged her tail a bit at him, and that was his entire greeting. She remained glued to my ankles instead. I had hoped that his homecoming would calm her unsettled behavior of the past week.

Daddy brought a few treasures home with him for Cailin. The first was his Care Bear from when he was a little boy back in Nova Scotia. Cailin took a liking to Care Bear right away. She made sure he was sitting upright, and packed him around the basement. When we asked her to give him kisses, she hugged him tight and gave him kisses:
She doesn't usually give kisses on command, so we thought that was pretty cool. Looks like she and Care Bear are going to be fast friends. In fact, when she did deign to go to bed (at 11:30pm oh my) she took Care Bear with her.

She also got a couple dinky cars - big rigs - that she played with instantly. Cailin's favorite though, had to be the book that plays music. Ryan got it when he was just a baby, and it still works! She sat in the suitcase and danced to the music as she leafed through the book.

Ryan was able to find his John Deere tractors and accessories, and got them shipped out from his grandparents' place. He marvelled over how he had played with these toys as a boy and how his son would play with them soon. I'm thinking Jellybean will have to fight Cailin for the tractors; she loves playing with cars and such.

Cailin has decided that next time Daddy goes somewhere, he's gonna be taking her too:
We're so glad that Daddy had such a good time while he was away. We're even happier that he's home!