Amy Wenzel Photography

Tada!

Well, you guys managed to pull me back from the 5th dimension or wherever I was wandering around lost the past few weeks. My favorite comment was Rachel Brooke’s “Amy, Come back to us!” It made me feel as though I was stuck somewhere in the distant past or future and had to find a way to time travel back home. But I’m officially banning any comments from you guys that say things like, “I’m glad you’re back.” It will just make me feel too loser-ish for having abandoned post. No pun intended.

Here’s a nice story to warm your cold, cold hearts after all the silence. I’ve had lots of events going on lately, including my niece’s 4th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I drove over two hours to get there but it was worth every minute. I ran around like a dang fool with a cup full of gold coins playing all the games and winning tickets like a mad woman. I LOVE spending time with my two nieces because they think I’m a cool Aunt and I feel so alive when we are laughing and having fun. When it was time to cash in all our tickets at the end of the night, we divided them up evenly between the two girls. I helped my younger niece pick her prizes and then attempted to help the other who is 8 years old pick out her prizes. But she is very frugal (the type who won’t spend her allowance on toys but would rather save it). It was getting late and by this point everyone one else was waiting for us in the car while she deliberated about how to get the most for her points. I pointed at different things in the prize case and tried to give her ideas about how fun all the senseless junk would be if she would just trade in her points. I talked her into several items and finally suggested that she use her remaining points to get two matching rings with the big flowers on them. That way she could wear one and give one to a friend at school so that they could have matching rings.  At last, armed with a plastic bag filled wtih candy, rubber lizzards, bubbles and who knows what else we finally made our way out of Chuck E Cheese and into the parking lot. On the way to the car she reached into her bag, pulled out one of the matching flower rings and handed it to me. My heart melted into a puddle around my feet. It’s funny the quiet ways that kids find to tell you that they love you. For some reason, I don’t think there’s anything she could have done that would have made me feel more special.

And last but not least some photos. You know that song, “The wheels on the bus”?  Yeah, she pretty much loved that song. Every time I sang it she just got very still and looked at me (toddlers are always falling for my cheap ploys). I just loved her sweetness- she kept putting her arms out for me to hold her and pick her up during the session. That was about the cutest thing ever.