Chapter 2: The "Cook-Over" Sleepover
One cold third Saturday of January 2022, I met up with my childhood friends Sarah, James, and Henri at the Mifflin girls' house in Fox Chapel along with an old friend of mine, Emma Sobert, for a day of fun before our activities. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. "It's wonderful to see you again, Emma," I happily greeted my old friend. "And, you too, Abigail and Hannah." "So, what will we be doing today?" James happily asked. "We will start off with video games, then watch a Discovery Kids movie, and then write and act out a play, and then have a snowball fight, and make a snowman," Emma told all of us." Any food to eat?" Henri asked, licking his lips. "I am starving." "We will have quesadillas for dinner, along with fruit salad, candy bars, and strawberry brownie marshmallow kabobs," Emma explained. "We can also make crafts, if you wish." "Sure, we can decorate cookies, make slime, decorate a wood picture frame, and make glitter gem magnets," Sarah agreed. We then sat down to do our activities, eat our dinner and snacks, and then make our crafts, along with listening to our favorite music from Santana. "This pandemic is driving most of us crazy," I admitted. "I can't wait to attend a baseball game or concert without wearing a mask and social distancing, just like we did in the old days." "Oh, yeah," James agreed. "The baseball game at my high school was terrific, and coronavirus wasn't even an issue back when I was in high school!" "That hurts my heart that most years that are like during our time in high school, current school-aged kids have to deal with the coronavirus, especially the now dangerous Omicron variant," I explained. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, Angel," Sarah told me. "Just think: you can spend more time with us during the pandemic than you ever did before the pandemic began." "That was what I was thinking about during the Activities From Each Sleepover camp yesterday," I stated. "I think that it would be a nice thing for us to do even after the pandemic is over!" "Did you hear about the snowstorm that is supposed to hit the Pittsburgh area tomorrow night and Monday?" Emma asked us. "I will go back to Rochester as early as possible, so I will not get stuck in the snowstorm." "This is normally a time to think summery thoughts," Henri reminded us. "Every time we meet up, we look at this scrapbook we made back in 2015 of all of our favorite holidays, like Thanksgiving, for example," I explained. "What about the 4th of July?" Henri asked us. "We also have pictures of your experiences together from childhood in this book," Emma explained. "Show us the time we sold lemonade on a hot summer day to help warm us up," I suggested. Emma then showed us the picture. "Ah, look at you doing your homework trying to stay cool while James, Henri, and I sell lemonade," I joked. "However, it would be nice if we got this activity next month or in August, because that is when Abigail and Hannah are hosting their slumber parties." "Madison and Casey helped us get ready this morning," Abigail explained. "We were looking at pictures in the scrapbook of our "Queen For a Day" and Thanksgiving celebrations," Hannah explained. "I liked our meal of turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and of course, my homemade Pillsbury crescent rolls made using my Easy Bake oven." Then, we went to our client, Julia Robison's house in Squirrel Hill for her "Cook-Over" sleepover. Emma even came with us. We began the evening watching Chopped on the Food Network and then crafting aprons with the different food groups. Julia drew the vegetable group, Jennifer drew the dairy group, Sloan drew the meat group, Sasha drew the grain group, and Erin drew the fruit group. Then, we got to the cooking portion, in which Julia made her Strawberry Soda Floats, Jennifer made her Sleeping Bag Blondies, Sloan made her Bananas Foster Crunch Mix, Sasha made her Marbled Orange Fudge, and Erin made her Rainbow Cupcakes. They all tasted very delicious! When the slumber party was over, it was time for all of us to leave. "Thanks for a great day, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Good night, guys!" "Good night!"