Maple Sugar Sunday

It occurs to me that I didn't write about the other half of our weekend.  We went to the state my mom lives in for a maple sugar festival.  Her state does a festival every year on the last Sunday in March.  We went once, when KC was still really little (maybe 1 1/2) but in the remaining intervening years we have not been able to go due to a variety of circumstances.  Most involved one or all of us being deathly ill.  This year, Kirsty said she was giving up on maple sugar Sunday and taking her Mom's runaway day that day. If I wanted to bet that we would be healthy enough to go, I would have to take the tribe to it on my own.  Gulp.  I have never driven to this state on my own.  I am without a doubt the most directionally impaired person you could ever meet.  When we re-sided our home we kept the color the same as the old asbestos tiles because everyone said I'd drive right past the house otherwise.  I laughed but acknowledge the possibility they may have been right.

OK so I signed on for this trip.  Kids were stoked.  We were going to a farm and then stopping at my mom's for lunch.  I admit it was slightly demented to do this after our trip into the Big City the day before, but I am all about going for the gusto. 

I went to bed at 10:30 Saturday figuring I needed to get a good nights rest.  I woke up at quarter to 1 with the worst stomach pain I have ever had in my life.  Truly I wanted to die.  I wasn't sick. Just had this horrible horrible pain.  I was awake till about 5 a.m.  Fell asleep and woke again at 6 because I still hurt.  I gave up and got up. 

Figured we would skip the festival, except when I told the kids, KC said "but this was my day to see my grandma."  Big tears rolled down his face.  I think had he pitched a fit, I would have been angry.  Felt sorry for myself and how crappy I felt.  But he was so sincere.  So we got in the car and went.

We saw oxen, watched how sap got boiled down over open fires in the past, saw the newfangled systems used today,listened to some great fiddle music,  and bought some maple treats for the kids and my mom.  Then went to my mom's for lunch and got back to our house by 4 p.m. or so.  And the picture of my kids petting the oxen has kept me smiling all week.

Oh, and by Monday night I felt great again.  I would have been kicking myself all week if we had missed the trip!