My Date with Candice

The last time I left the house was 10 days ago. I went on a birthday date with my granddaughter Candice who just turned 6. She had planned our itinerary: Starbucks, WalMart, lunch at Applebee's and dessert at the Donut Factory. She also wanted to invite her cousin Gianna. I'm so lucky to have been in the company of these two lovely girls, for over the course of our 4 hours together, I slipped into a mighty case of influenza. The girls were oblivious to my light-headed weakness and chattered happily about all manner of things.

They are well matched not just in the adorable pig-tails they both wore but also in their easy-going ways. After selecting frothy drinks at Starbucks, they moved through the various departments of Wal-Mart with thoughtful diligence beginning with accessories where they chose Dora glasses. Next they tried on shoes in the shoe department. They spent considerable time in the toy aisles deliberately examining one toy after another but only those at their eye-level. They ended up choosing matching diaries with keys. From there we moved to electronics where they looked a DVDs. Then we went to clothing where Candice chose a denim backpack and Gianna chose fleecy sweat pants. I had promised they could choose candy at the check-out stand. Gianna picked sugarless gum and Candice got Peds.

Then we went for lunch at Applebee's. They asked for onion rings as an appetizer and chose corn dogs from the kids menu. Candice had a side of applesauce and Gianna a side of fries. While I sat, hoping I wouldn't get any sicker before it was time to drop them off, they unwrapped and examined their packages from Wal-Mart.

Candice had her heart set on a donut from the Donut Factory, but they were closed when we got there, so I suggested Save Mart which has Krispy Kreme Donuts. She is such an amenable child that this was an acceptable alternative and we got donuts for the girls as well as Candice's siblings. Then we headed to the park where we were to meet her mother. I was pushing the girls on the tire swing and shivering with fever chills when my daughter–in-law arrived. The girls were laughing and smiling and I felt like the date was a success.

Little did I know that I was headed to bed for four days when I left them at the Park. I'm resurfacing and will do a little blog catch up over the next few days. For now it's simply fun to recall my date with Candice back before the flu grabbed me.