Sisters!

What a wonderful weekend!  

Friday Jacey got to my house around 4:30 and we hit the road.  The trip itself was without issue... until we arrived at our hotel... 

WE managed to find the hotel, find a parking spot, fit into said parking spot (with my big truck) and went into the hotel... and were told that they did not have room for us.  

What? 

No room?

I called the day before... directly through the hotel... not online... direct... and I have no room? Excuse me? I gave you my credit card number and the room is $109... and I don't have a room???

That's correct maa'm.  We are overbooked so we have reserved you a room at another hotel in the area.  Here's a letter saying so and here are directions to the hotel and a map. (The directions said go east on a street... not turn left or right out of parking lot... and the map... was did not show street names and had a big white square in the middle of it...) I was not pleased... after 5 hours in the truck... we had arrived at 10:15 ish... and wanted to relax... Sis had kept the boys up to see us and this hotel was within walking distance to her apartment, hence the reservation... 

The good news? I will not be charged for the night's stay... Zero dollars... (Silver lining!) 

So... I entered the address of the new hotel into my phone... my gps.. and it takes me out of the city... in the meantime Sis and the boys head to the new hotel location to meet us... and they get there well before us... my gps took us in the wrong direction,... eventually we got to the right place... and checked in... and while I was appreciative of the free night... the man at this hotel was slow... not really all warm and fuzzy that I kind of needed at that point in the night... but... once we got to the room... I felt better.  The room was HUGE... had two queen beds... a living room... a shower that could almost have fit Sis, Jacey, Me, and the boys at the same time! It was crazy... and instead of it being a $109 dollar room.. it was a $318 room!  SUITE!!! And as it worked out... the new hotel was close to where we needed to meet Sis for our morning adventure... so while it all worked out.. you can guarantee I will be contacting the original hotel and saying my peace... I had to park my truck in their lot, valet parking.. which meant that I had to leave a key with them to my truck... That was hard.. giving up control... giving my key to strangers... but it all worked out... Sis and the boys stayed to visit for a while.... and then Jacey and I crashed... 

Saturday... Jacey and I got up and had breakfast at the hotel and met up with Sis and the boys around 9:15 to head out on a duck tour... have you heard of these? You ride on this bus thing that converts into a boat as you rush into the water... all the while listening to facts about Albany.  It was fun... and we got to use quackers to sound like ducks...  

The architecture in Albany is beautiful...

This is the youngest nephew... growing up way too fast... 

Ducks!  Couldn't NOT take a picture of ducks on a duck tour... 

Jack taking a few pictures with Sis's camera... like mother like son....

The oldest... 12 now... and getting sooo tall!!!  But still not too big to give me lots of hugs!! 

Middle nephew driving the boat...

Youngest too! 

Look at this guy!  The baby!! Looking so much like my sister... LOVE it! 

Some Graffiti! 

Later in the day on Saturday after Sis had taken the boys to their dad's house... Jacey and I managed to execute our plan... we had arranged a surprise birthday party for Sis!  I was so excited.  I managed to connect with some of her friends via facebook and call the owner of her favorite restaurant... and then managed to get Sis to the right place at the right time... It was priceless... 

We walked into the restaurant and she introduced Jacey and I to the owner... (I had no idea the rest of the party had already arrived!) and I had to pretend that it was our first interaction... and Sis asked if she could sit in her usual booth... in the meantime the bartender asked if she was there to celebrate her birthday... eek.. but then covered herself... This was one of Sis's favorite spots... a place she goes often and has grown to know the owner well... So... after Sis had sat in her booth and I had made all kinds of faces at the owner who signaled me that the crew was there... I told Sis to get up, there was a change of plans... and she was confused... and then... she walked around the corner to see it filed with some of her friends.... and was very surprised to learn it was a party for her!!!  It was AWESOME!  Here are some pictures... some are more easily explained than others!! 

Following dinner we did one of Sis's favorite things... attended poetry readings in the park right near her house..most of the party crew also joined...

This is my favorite picture of the weekend.... Sisters! 

This is also one of my favs... Sis... not knowing I was taking her picture... and she looks so happy.. not only does she look happy... she IS happy... Love that! 

And there's this girl!!! So Beautiful!  I am so glad she was able to make the Sister Weekend a trio!!!  

This was a great weekend... I got to help celebrate my sister... I got to see the people she has come to love in her city, people who are her Friends... her poetry family... and I loved it.  

I haven't shared a lot here about Sis... she has had a lot going on in her life... 

As with every relationship, there are times when you feel closer to people than others... and times where you feel more distant... and over the years Sis and I have had both... At times, I will admit, I feared the distance was something that may become more of a constant than an exception... but... I don't think that is the case... I think the closeness will be more of the constant... 

Growing up, Sis was the person I most admired... she was spunky, smart, fun, dramatic, and authentic... somewhere along the way.... her vibrancy faded... and she withdrew... and I hated it... hated feeling like I couldn't get to her... but she was battling some things... maybe not so much battling things... but definitely sorting things out... and somewhere in there... she bravely decided that she was too important to go gray... and began adding color back into her life... and she is more vibrant now than I have seen her in a very very long time... 

She seems to love herself... seems to be confident in who she is... what she is about... what she loves... and I love it.  

I am so proud of her... so so proud of her... Happy Birthday Sis!!!