Spectacularly surreal

TIME:      11:15am to 1:45pm

WHEN:    Wednesday, January 1, 2014 
WHERE:  Burke, VA, United States  (Specifically on Burke Centre Parkway)
WHO:      The Toppall Team (Jeff, Ian, Samantha and me)

We had New Year's day blissfully free of any place we needed to be.  I proposed an idea to Jeff, "Let's walk to Cafe Rio for lunch and walk back."  Despite the 35 degree weather outside, Jeff didn't find a reason to turn down my idea and it got presented to the kids.  Ian and Sam were game as long as they could use their scooters.  Heck ya!

Not once did we hear "How much longer?"  Not once did we hear "Are we there yet?".  No one complained about the cold, or being thirsty, or having to go to the bathroom, or their feet hurting, or being too hungry, or the path being too hilly, or the sun in their eyes.

For 1.85 miles in each direction we did it!  It was 2.5 hours total of being part of a bigger plan.  There was no quick escape or exit available.  The kids and Jeff did a great job of hanging in there.  I think the funniest moment came as we were walking into Cafe Rio and Sam realizes where we are about to eat lunch.  She whines LOUDLY as we're walking through the door, "AW, NOT THIS PLACE!  I DIDN'T WANT TO COME HERE TO EAT."   Come'on, you can't tell me she didn't know where we were headed.  Not only did we mention the name of the place several times as to where we were going, but she is fully aware geographically what is located in the direction we were moving.  Her whining went ignored, her hunger kicked in and Sam ate her brother's chicken taco. 

After lunch, Ian and Sam requested Sweet Frog (located at the end of the shopping center) for FroYo before heading back home.   We got our frozen treat in freezing weather and then hit the trail back home.

I loved it!  And was so proud of my family.  To the casual pedestrian or car driving by, we looked like a normal family.  One who enjoys being outside and getting fresh air.  No one knew that inside I could hear a clock ticking (quite loudly) just waiting for someone (any one of us that bears the Toppall last name) to explode and ruin this fantasy.  It never happened!! 

As we had our house in sight, I threw out the idea that since this worked so well, we could do it all the time.  I got a few glares back in return and felt I shouldn't press my luck. So I altered my thinking and said "Maybe we could just do this every New Year's day."   At which point everyone agreed in 365 days they would be up for doing it again.