Saturday, June 9, 2007

Thirteen Hours

We have been on-the-go for more than thirteen hours today.
If I only had half their energy.....

8:30 AM - Crabbing with Grandpa
After a delicious breakfast of buttery mom-made french toast (one of their favorites!), my dad picked us up and we headed to his "secret spot" near the Inlet. It was low tide, and the fiddler crabs are plentiful this time of year. We spent some time chasing the crabs through the mud, often sinking in the smelly sludge. With a few dozen new pets in our bucket, we turned to head up the path to the shore.
I was quite surprised to see a woman taking photos of us. In fact, I was bordering on angry and about to express myself - until the lady called out a friendly hello to my father. It turns out they are neighbors. Even better, she got some really great shots of us!

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We finished off the morning by washing off the mud in the ocean....clothes and all.
She got a few shots of that, too...

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11:00 - Shower and NAP
Yes, all three kids. The stars don't usually align this nicely. I was blessed with more than an hour to remove several layers of filth from our home.

12:30 - Back to the Beach
My friend from work and her two sons (4 years and 7 months) came over. We loaded all five kids into the Suburban and headed back to the beach for an afternoon of fun in the sand, surf and jumping fountains.

4:15 - Return Home
Friend from work and sons leave. She has a date night tonight with her husband. I am slightly jealous.

4:30 - The neighbors call.
They must have seen us pull into the driveway. I had the kids in the tub to wash off the sand... next thing I know, there's a huge gaggle of little girls in my swimming pool. And one little four-year-old boy with a powerful cannonball, showing off for them.
I guess the bath was for naught.
Ding-dong.
Neighbor boy, requesting the presence of the cannonball-er for a swordfight in his backyard.
Swoosh.....with that, a huge gaggle of kids (with me in tow) tear off to the neighbor's pool.
Then the trampoline.
Then back in their pool, with a golden retriever added into the mix.
Somewhere in the ruckus I call for a couple of pizzas.

7:15 - Dinner arrives.
For the first time in hours, they are sitting still. All three. And they're hungry....I can't imagine why!

8:00 - Grocery shopping.
Yes, I know. I'm crazy. I almost blew it off until hubby returns tomorrow. Who needs milk and bread, anyway?
But the Swiffer broke - a true crisis in this house. And, I wanted ice cream. And the kids were behaving nicely...
Back into the Suburban and off to Publix. They have these cute little carts with trucks on the front...the baby rode in there, steering the whole time. Oldest was in the back of the cart and the boy crossed things off the list as we went.
Not sure how it took 45 minutes, but it did. I really didn't think I needed that much....the Swiffer...wasp spray....some fruit....etc....and there went another $75!

9:30 - Bedtime.
Baby crashes within two minutes of lying down. The older two wanted to do a sleepover. He's in her trundle bed. She's sleeping and he is moments away (I hope!)

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Now for my ice cream....

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Cast Is Off!!!

Hubby had his cast removed today.
Nine weeks - almost four weeks longer than we thought.
The removable splint is such a welcome sight!!