Notes From A Summer Day, Long Past

Summertime!

Its warm. I got up late... something like 10:30 and the kids were willing around patiently eating bananas as their babysitter, Spongebob, taught them how to use sentence enhancers. It was 3am by the time the last guest left last night.

Kids wanted to get out of the house... I wanted a shower. We compromised. I cleaned up and they waited. Mom had a migrane. I could feel it then... the cool air blowing in off the late was already pretty warm. It was going to be hot.

The idea of being outnumbered at breakfast 3:1 seemed insanity to my lovely wife. I suppose it is. But we went anyway and caught a break. They were angels.

We had a blast... Bought some stuff to fix the sprinkler system and more propane for the tank. Boring to kids. The highlight of the trip was looking at toilets at Lowes... cracks me up. Three kids sitting on the toilets while a clerk watches nervously to see if they're actually using it.

I stopped and treated them to ice cream. They've been great. Then it was a mess... and the youngest fouled his pullup (cannot wait til that is over) and is now freeballing at the park where I jot this note. We found a creek as we walked here and climbed around under the bridge and sat along the banks... splashing our feet. Its hot, maybe 90 and the water felt great.

There is a moment there in the creek, when all you can see are the rocky banks and water creeping over, trees leaning in toward this hidden, babbling secret. Blue jays hopped from branch to branch and butterflies fluttered on the bank. One flew up to Noah, my four year old. He screamed and ran in a frenzy toward the car with the tiny yellow lepidoptera behind him, following lazily. I tried so hard not to laugh.

So now I sit under this elm tree and the kids have come back... "We're boiling hot dad, can we play in the river?" Sure. How can I resist? This is the best of times. Welcome to summer.