Last week we spent part of the school spring break down in Charleston. It was a charming city and very walkable. And we walked. And ducked down alleys and side streets and tried to take in as much as we could. This led to questions. Quite a few questions from the girls.

When was sugar invented? Why did they paint those houses those colors? What kind of name is Harris Teeter? And many more.

For a long time, I found it mildly frustrating or annoying to have a why child. (Sidenote: of all the parenting industry insanity, I do find the phrase why child rather delightful). A why child isn’t content with simple explanations or the first answer. And this can be a bit frustrating when trying to explain things adequately to a toddler. But now that they are a little older? It’s quite enjoyable to try to answer the girl’s questions as completely as possible. It can lead to further conversational nooks and crannies that you never saw coming.

And curious is better than complacent and annoying is better than ignorant.

On vacation she developed a taste for Special K. No complaints, but I keep expecting her to realize she’s made a terrible mistake given her previous palette of Fruit Loops and Trixx.

No time for leisure on the couch this morning. It was a split squad as we all had races.

The girls went with Michelle to Worcester for the Autism Superhero 5k at Polar Park to support one of the programs at Michelle’s company.

Meanwhile, closer to home, I ate some donated bananas, picked up a sweet race t-shirt, and ran the Soles 10k.

But, at the end of the day, only one family member ended up getting on the podium.

But perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was that we’d never heard of George’s Coney Island hot dogs. Apparently an institution in Worcester for over a hundred years and the most popular food stand at Polar Park.

That situation has been rectified.

While the ladies were chowing down on hot dogs and half sour pickles, I was prepping for the belated birthday dinner for the still relatively new 14-year-old.

She requested pasta, Dad’s pull apart rolls, and chocolate cake.

Suspiciously, they did arrive home in time to help ‘clean’ the frosting beaters.

Grammy and Poppy’s new social schedule includes a lot of group parlor games and, being Donohues, they are competitive, which led to a family practice session of Rummikub with the girls.

Let’s hope this pays off at the next Whiskey Wednesday meeting. Or Thirsty Thursday. Or Grillin’ and Chillin’. Or Potluck Friday. I’ve lost track…

The birthday dinner was served as requested.

And the cake even brought out a rare teenage smile.

Any questions?