This Week

Whew. This is the week Christina decided to go on vacation. Last time she went on vacation, we had to go on vacation to, to Florida. Well that trip was two weeks ago. So we couldn't quite justify going back to Florida and decided to try to make ends meet without her. Well, just as we suspected , it is very difficult to make ends meet without her. Monday and Tuesday were fine. because she was here. Then on Wednesday Riley and I had a great time of meeting Amy for lunch and following that up with a great big molasses cookie. We went to the drug store to pick up Mama's ear infection drops (this is a long and sad story that we won't get into now except to say, wear Beanies when you paddle, and don't drop your perscriptions off in the overnigh drop box if you want the pharmacist to actually fill it). We went to the library to kill some time, and discovered the cleanest restroom with no locks is in the children's section. We also discovered that there was a man and his dog doing a juggling show in the Faulkner Gallery. Riley was more interested in slamming the door than in watching the show, so home we went. The Lippizaner horses were in town, and we rode bikes out there to watch. Riley was attentive and well mannered, and the horses appreciated all his clapping.Yesterday the plumbers came to start changing out our old pipes with new pipes. I am thrilled about the idea of having on demand hot water as well as water pressure. The babysitter we hired for the day came two hours late. Two hours after she arrived I was on my way into a job interview. The week ended well, with a wonderful night of Wine Whine Wine. There were sixteen of us here, and we all sat on the front porch to cool off. It was really really nice.

Florida

We forgot to write about going to Florida! Riley Joshua and Dru went to Miami to check in on Grandma and Grandpa a few weeks ago. Our trip coincided with a trip by Aunt Beky, Uncle Sean, Aunt ChaCha, Uncle Dirk and cousins Dane, Cody, Thorough and Orion. Uncle Danny and Uncle David live in Miami as do cousins Nicole and Lisa. The weather was great. The hotel on Hollywood beach was a real treat, as was the bicycle and pedestrian Broadwalk. And there was traffic calming nearby. I had always heard that there were pedestrian and bicycle friendly projects in Florida, but I had never seen one, so now when I think of Florida, I don't have to think about 8 lane roads with pedestrian signals that don't work.

State Champs

We spent today at the beach. Although we only live a mile and a half from it, we don't spend much time there. Today was an especially good day to be at Ledbetter because of the Outrigger Sprint Championships. I thought my arms were going to fall off after the heat, but we all agreed that in order to race three turns during the final, we would have to do something a little different, like paddle smart. This strategy worked amazingly well. Unfortunately, although we have the will to prevent being passed at the finish, we didn't have the power, so after leading the whole race, we were passed at the end. We now have beautiful tiles that say 2nd place. We really had no business being way up there anyway.

Riley joined me, and had a lovely morning canteloupe, yogurt, and sand. He got an opportunity to play with some kids more his own size, namely not Mama Dada or Christina. He isn't very good at playing with kids his own size. There was some sand throwing and crying.

I long for the long days we used to spend just lying around the beach, gossiping, and solving each other's problems. Thank goodness Mindy took some pictures.

Mutt-mutts

Wednesday is my usual day off. Some days I work my day off. In fact today I worked my day off, but I didn't have to start until 6 pm, and ended at 9. So it really felt like a day off. When we are really enjoying my day off, Riley and I peruse some of the coffee shops in town. Today was no different than yesterday in that regard, as we went perusing yesterday too, in celebration of having the day off for July Fourth festivities. I ask Riley if he wants to go for coffee, and he asks, "mutt-mutts?" And so off we go in search of hot coffee and muffins. Today we brought Cecil and Jayda too, as they need a respite from the stable flies that have been nibbling away at their ears. In fact today we splurged. Two visits for mutt-mutts. Poor Dada, he had to work all day.