Sleep Overs?!? Why do we call them Sleep Overs?

Last night, my daughter had a sleep over. Why don't we call them "Stay Up All Night Over's"???!

The main joy of the evening was a late night run to Walmart. At 8 pm, Lexi told me that she wanted me to take them to Walmart at midnight. I do enjoy a late night trip to Walmart, however, I'd gone to bed super late the night before. I wasn't really excited. But, it's Spring Break here. Tons of their friends have gone to warm and wonderful places or indoor water parks, like Great Wolf Lodge. Could I not oblige a simple trip to Walmart? Mother guilt took hold of me.

At 11:57 pm we pulled out of the driveway. Two daughters, one friend, and me. We frolicked in "our" Walmart - exploring the Easter aisles, looking at cute baby and toddler clothes for the nieces, gathering Diet Coke and other necessary supplies - all with me on the verge of sleep deprived napping. (I will claim credit for holding my own though - there was a sudden huge sound of the stocker dropping a wooden pallet on top of another wooden pallet right behind me. I didn't even cuss, shocked and scared though I was. ;-) Thank God for small miracles.)

When it was clear that we were headed out, Lexi started brainstorming about what we could do next - Could we go to the other Walmart? The one across town?

Ahhh... mother guilt took hold again... the cold air on my face, the guilt and responsibility for bringing joy to a boring Spring Break, and the drive to be the cool mom... it's a dangerous combination. Also, I now had fortification in the form of a 24 oz bottle of Diet Coke.

I turned left out of the parking lot, causing great confusion. Until they realized we weren't going back home yet.

We drove to the other side of town -

1. Saw a train (which was terribly exciting as we rarely see trains in town), Kati thought there were about 3 cars in the train.
2. Drove by Lexi's school - looking to see what it looked like at night.
3. Drove back toward the train tracks to count the cars in the train. There were actually 99 cars in the train. Kati says that's o.k., she was only off by 96. Good laugh all around.
4. Drove over the highway to see what 12:45 am traffic looks like. There were more vehicles on the road than I anticipated.
5. Went to Denny's. Had milkshakes. Took a picture of the girls at Denny's at 1:15 am - but I haven't figured out how to get it from camera to computer yet.
6. Went to the second Walmart. Let Lexi and her friend, Stephanie, go in and buy gum to prove they were there. Kati was getting pretty tired by this point.
7. Arrived back home at 1:57 am. Exactly (accidentally but exactly) two hours after we left.

We may not have lounged by the beach this Spring Break, but at least we now have a story to tell!