ICE

We decided to go to the Gaylord Texan today with Troy’s best friends and their families. The super resort in Grapevine was putting on their annual Ice show, which is an artisanal exhibition of master ice sculptors from China. This year’s theme was The Grinch That Stole Christmas, and we thought the kids would enjoy it.

It turned out that it wasn’t the kids we needed to worry about, it was their parents. Five seconds after we walked through the doors, we got separated from everyone else. We stopped to admire an ice sculpture and take a family selfie, and they walked off and left us. They either didn’t notice we weren’t with them, or more likely didn’t care. And I’d venture to say it was Sasha’s mom leading the pack. She’s very headstrong and controlling, so you either follow her lead or get left behind. So, we got left behind. We received pictures later of Sasha and Misha together, enjoying themselves, but we don’t have a single one of all three kids together.

We did finally manage to briefly catch up to them again at the giant ice slide. I ran into both Misha’s dad and mom. Apparently, Sasha’s mom had taken the two girls up the stairs to the top of the slide. So, Troy and I got in line to do it as well. The girls came down, and then Sasha’s mom decided she didn’t want to wait or go again, and they all left. So, by the time Troy and I made it down, everyone was gone. Since they knew we were there, I can only feel that it was a conscious decision on their part to leave us. Annoyed by this point, I decided to forget them and have fun without them. So, Troy and I went down the slide again!

We kept going through the exhibit, appreciating the skill that went into bringing scenes from the beloved story to life. And when we finally made it out and into the gift shop, our group was nowhere to be found. My wife called Misha’s mom, so we could regroup, and we found out that not only had they left the exhibit, but they had left the resort entirely and were already in the car, driving away! Needless to say, we were very disappointed and upset. What was supposed to be a play date for the kids had turned into a parent’s agenda instead. Sasha’s parents were tired and wanted to go home. Misha’s parents were hungry and wanted to go eat.

Troy kept asking where his friends were throughout the exhibit, and it was hard to have to explain that we had no idea or that they had left us. He cared more about seeing them than seeing the ice sculptures, and the other parents robbed him of the chance. It’s sad, but I guess in the future, we’ll have to be more discerning with whom we invite to these things.