Monday, July 18

Well that was a wild day!

Buddy has mastered the art of escape. He greeted us on the front porch early this morning with news that he only needs a cape and a gorgeous assistant and he'll be able to make his way in the world. Or he could have been wanting breakfast. It's hard to tell, really. In the meantime, however, we went on full alert trying to figure out his secret. He can't be getting out of the back yard at will, like that! Between the strays that loiter in the neighborhood and the cars that do 60 in a 45, it's just not safe to free range it out here. It took us about an hour, and four escapes, but we finally tracked it down. He watched us from the balcony, totally clueless about our intentions, as the boys and I hauled fencing around to bolster the area and get it blocked off. Then we stationed people in all the windows to watch and see if that was it. I let him off the balcony and he made a beeline for the one spot, then the other. Then, being utterly thwarted, he went to the back porch to hang out. *whew* Dodged that one.

Meanwhile, we were hanging clothes today, singing the praises of the clothes line and the sunshine. The dryer, however, was getting some hairy eyeball from at least two of us. It died last night sometime, leaving us with two loads of wet clothes and no warning. Zorak did the troubleshooting tonight while I took the Bigs to Scouts, and it looks like the problem is a $22 replacement part from Repair Clinic.com (love that place!) And then, because he loves me, he also chipped in for a new washer start knob (ours has been stripped for two years), and a new belt (because while you're in there, you know you might as well replace anything that wears out like that). It'll ship tomorrow, and should be in our hot little hands by Wednesday! Repair Clinic for the WIN! Boo-yah!

We hit the water park, then came home to prepare for the evening. John nailed the quarter mile improvement, which was all he had left to complete his Tenderfoot requirements, so he had his Scoutmaster conference tonight and will sit the board of review next week. It looks like we'll be having a Court of Honor in a couple of weeks, too! Very exciting to see the activity level ramping up in this Troop.

Man, I'm loving the water park. The kids sleep so deeply after a day there. And they're all improving on their water skills - far more than I thought they would, really. Jase is no longer afraid of water deeper than his ankles. Emily's not afraid of anything (kind of wish she was...) but she's comfortable putting her face in the water now (added bonus of making bath time significantly easier). Jacob can SWIM, now. Under water even! And James and John are both getting to be stronger, more confident swimmers all around. I just can't say enough how glad I am they have this opportunity. Good, good stuff.

However, the downside is that I'm about done, too. Still much to do, but this lady is going to finish yet another glass of water and hit the hay. They want to do it again tomorrow, and I'd like to be up for it! ;-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

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