Larry and I got tired of sitting around this humid, boring burb while everyone else got the heck out of town; so, in a fit of heat-induced insanity, we decided that it would make sense to drive 3 full hours to the beach (with the kids - though we did consider leaving them home), pay 16 dollars for the privilege of parking at the state park seashore, play in the sand for several hours, and then pile back in the car and drive home. We implemented our plan before the delusion could wear off and - remarkably - survived relatively unscathed. Let's see - $100 in gas for 5 hours at the beach. That's 20 dollars an hour; but we need to divide that by 8, so it cost us only $2.50 an hour per person. What a deal! Of course, it was sort of drizzling part of the time, and pretty cloudy; but , hey, we saved on sunscreen. So, all in all, the trip was a success. And the kids are scared to ask about going to the beach again.
Rachel turned 4 today. She was very excited, naturally. Having been perfectly potty-trained for months, she celebrated her last day of being 3 by kicking over the traces, as it were, and pooping in her pants not once, but twice, and then peeing in the Chick-Fil-A indoor playground. We will never know why, and we accept that. Larry and I spent all of 10 dollars on her presents, and she thought they were great. I told Larry not to try that on my birthday.
Anna's birthday was also this week (she turned 13), but she refrained from pooping in her pants, thanks be to God. Larry took her and a few friends to a local water park (for the uninitiated, a huge pool with fun slides, etc. that costs a mint and is constantly overcrowded with screaming, shrieking children and their screaming, shrieking parents), along with 2 of her brothers. She claimed that the day would be ruined by the presence of her male siblings, and we said, and I quote, "Tough." Sometimes, you just gotta take a stand. She's very good at being 13, as she has been practicing all year.
Theo is being his usual problem-child self, looking disappointed if we don't get him to Chess club on time and forgetting to wipe down the stove properly after he cooks us all dinner. Kids these days.....
Our garden is going as well as can be expected, considering that I don't know what I am doing and that we seem to be living in a subtropical region that spawns gigantic life forms in the shape of weeds. All those cute little gardening tools I bought in July are basically useless - what I need is an honest-to-God machete. The zucchini are still thriving; unless, of course, those are weeds that I have only mistaken for zucchini. I can't tell.
Well, I've got to go tell Larry that our brand-new computer monitor is acting funny. Unless, of course, there are supposed to be those bright pink stripes running down the right-hand side of the screen. Maybe it's an expensive new feature....
A few years back, I planted a garden. I had never really gardened before. You will understand the depth of my never-having-gardened when I tell you that in addition to the 15 basil plants and 10 tomatoes, I planted TEN zucchini plants. For 2 adults (one of whom thinks that beyond peas, all vegetables are suspicious) and two small children. I had to borrow a machete and use it to kill off 9 of the 10 zucchinis. And I "weeded" out about 10 of the basils, not realizing that they had managed to reproduce wildly, and there were still approximately 78 still there.
ReplyDelete