Unexpected

Things don't always go the way you expect them to.
Like last weekend when I decided we don't have enough sit-down family dinners at the kitchen table.  And I announced we would eat our food in the same room at the same time...causing a pained expression to cross my football enthusiast husband's face.  But he sat.  And I thought it would be so special I should take a picture of our perfect family and write a blog about eating together.  So I asked Hillary to run downstairs to get the camera.  She promptly asked Parker to do it.  Who promptly refused.  Irritably. Causing Hubby to growl and bark.  Until I finally said, "Forget it!"  I mean, seriously...who wants a picture of this?
We sat and we ate.  And we made strained small talk.
And by that evening, we were back to normal.
Fast-forward to this weekend.
The grandparents came up, and we were taking the kids to Six Flags.  We had extra tickets, so each kid got to invite a friend.  I was glad, because I expected they would want to go off separately from each other and have non-irritating, non-sibling fun.  We got inside the park and went our separate ways.  A couple hours later, I texted Hillary..."Where r u? And have u seen ur brother?"
She answered, "He's with me.  We r at The Ninja."
Well, what do you know?
We old folks made our way over there just in time to see the four of them come off the ride...smiling and glowing like only teenagers who just came off a roller coaster can do.  "Mom!" Hillary exclaimed.  "We want to take an Old Tyme Photo, but we don't quite have enough money."
So we adults/money givers, followed them to the shop.  We watched them dress up and act out.  We shelled out the cash for the two pictures they would illegally share later.  And we admitted we had had enough fun for grown-ups for one day.  We let the kids stay and we left to get dinner. Hillary would drive them home later.
I watched my son and daughter and their friends walk away from me side by side.  Enjoying each other's company and making fun memories.  And I had to smile.
Sometimes things don't go the way you expect them to.
Isn't it grand?