Saturday was our last parade of the summer. It was Alpine Days, and Cole was marching (of course), and I was also walking the parade with my Alpine Community Theater buddies. It was so fun to see them, since we haven’t been together since the play ended.
Although we had to wait for a LONG time at the staging area (over an hour), at least we weren’t the last entry in the parade, like Cole’s marching band. When we finally got moving, it was fun. Some people rode in the truck and trailer, but I chose to walk along behind or on the side. That way I could give out more candy. We threw t-shirts, sang and walked along and had fun. It was hot and muggy, yes, but the parade wasn’t very long, only about a mile and a half, so it wasn’t exhausting.
But with Ryan gone, and Cole and I in the parade, we had to have adult back-up to sit with the kids. Thanks to my parents for coming and watching the parade with them. They haven’t seen Cole march, yet, so hopefully they enjoyed it.
The afternoon was spent like a nice lazy Saturday. The kids played, but were also bickering. Jenna went to a birthday party. But by the time 6:00 rolled around, things had deteriorated.
Ryan called while we were in the middle of utter chaos.
John had fallen asleep on the couch, which he tends to do since the stubborn cuss won’t take a nap, and then he often doesn’t control his bladder when he’s asleep. I tried to wake him up for about 10 minutes, but he was groggy.
“John!” I said, “You need to wake up and use the potty!”
“I’m already using the potty,” he said groggily.
“NOOOOOO!” I pulled him off the couch, and sure enough, it was wet. He was wet, his clothes were wet, and the couch was wet.
That’s when the kids handed me the phone. Oh, it’s Dad calling from Hong Kong. Great!
I had to hand him off to talk to a child while I dragged my half asleep little boy into the bathroom and had him change his clothes. Then I went to work on the couch. Microfiber can only take so much, I’m thinking.
I was also irritated with Cole because I’d asked him all day to mow the lawn, and he complained and whined about how it was taking so long–it’s so long (well, that’s because no one’s mowed it all week!). I asked him to please finish, and he told me he would. Then I realized that for the past two hours he had been goofing off with his sisters and hadn’t finished mowing. And now it was raining.
It just wasn’t a calm moment in my life, and I was showing signs of stress. I’d had the kids alone for a week, and they were all cranky and getting on each others’ (and MY nerves). When I talked to him, I tried to keep it together, but it was obvious, I’m sure, that I was not being calm about things. “You probably don’t even want to come home to this mess, but I hope you do,” I told him. “I miss you.”
Let’s hope he wasn’t scared off, and he’ll really make it home tonight. I don’t mind it so much when he’s gone, but it’s getting old, and I’d like him to come back now.
Thankfully, we had someplace to go last night. We had a neighborhood pot luck scheduled at our friend’s house. I gathered up the YaHoos, got my berry cream pastry cut up and ready to take, and we got ready to go. Some of the kids wanted to walk, but I had too much stuff to take, so I took the car.
By the time we got there, the wind was really picking up, and there were a couple of people discussing what to do. We can’t have a barbeque in the rain, can we? Hoping it was just going to blow over, we set up a table in the garage. Then we walked around the yard to look at my friend’s lovely garden. By the time we were done with the garden tour, the rain was coming down, and even though we had about four families by then, we were still undecided as to what to do. “Let’s just eat inside,” my gracious friend said, “then we can watch the Olympics.” It ended up to be a great party. With just a few of my favorite neighbors and their kids, we ate and chatted and watched the Olympics. Then when the rain let up and it was clear outside, the men and the big kids went outside to play football. My friend looked out the window and said, “This is just how I like it. The boys can play outside and we can sit inside and talk.” I agree. It was nice to connect with my friends again, and have adult conversation without the kids hanging on me. Thank goodness for friends.
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