Odds and Ends of the Weekend

This weekend we went to the lake to go swimming. We went shopping in the morning and packed ourselves a nice picnic lunch to take along with us. Of course seconds after getting into the car and driving away from the house Olivia whispers from the back seat that she has to go poop. Just wonderful. So after a quick stop at a fast food restaurant we were back on track and headed for fun.

Ava took a little cap nap on the way there so she woke up seeming refreshed. She's been cutting one of her 2 year molars which is why we think she seems like she's been possessed by the devil lately. We hope. Since she was in a good mood we knew we'd end up having a great day. We set up the umbrella, pulled out our lunch, ate quickly- even Olivia, and ran towards the water. Since the girls both were wearing their swim support they could float in the water without us having to hold them. Ava was still a little skittish since this was her first time swimming without us holding her. Olivia knew what to expect and basically tried to go in every direction except the one we were facing.

We swam for about an hour, got out, reapplied our sunscreen, had a snack and some water, and headed to build sand castles. That was a lot of fun. The girls were really efficient at building thanks to their never ending supply of Legos. Again we were out there in the water for another hour splashing around, then we came back for a potty/water/refreshment break. By the time we ended up leaving we had spent almost five hours there. I couldn't believe it. Time really flies when everyone is having fun and getting along, AND WE ARE NOT TRAPPED INSIDE OF OUR HOUSE. We needed this day. We needed to get out. It was truly lovely. Fabulous even.

So we ate dinner and took off our bathing suits and relaxed a bit before packing up the car and heading home. We studied the butterflies and the dragonflies. We did some people watching. We rested fat and happy. Finally we had to go home so we packed up the car and began driving. I swear it was not 2 minutes later I noticed a rain drop on the windshield and then the rain started falling. Dave and I were so stoked we left exactly when we did and our outing was not ruined by trying to pack the kids in the car as well as the stuff we had brought with us in the rain.

Once we were home a neighbor came over to hangout for a bit while we put all of our stuff away. The girls melted into their little couches and watched one of their movies and I frosted a cake that Ava and I had made previously that morning. We sang Sugar happy birthday with Olivia blowing out the candle so we could eat the cake. You can't have cake and not celebrate a birthday according to Olivia so we picked Sugar this time. Lastly, we showered off our sunscreen and went to bed.

Sunday we woke up lazy and really didn't do a whole lot of anything. The girls napped and we watched a movie that the neighbor had given us, Dave watched some sports, the girls played in the pool, and the dogs ran around chasing each other like they had just met. The day passed pretty quickly and we went to bed. Then at 3 AM because apparently scumbags can't come during normal hours I woke up to what sounded like an explosion. Lady woke up too and was hovering by my bed so I sent Dave to the garage to investigate. He didn't find anything at that time but at 6AM when he went to roll the trash can out he found our mail box violated and laying lifeless in the street. The door was ripped off and the red flag was missing. All that survived was the 4X4 post that the mailbox was once attached to.

Today we had to purchase a new mailbox but I am not sad at having to buy another. I am actually happy about it. The old one was missing some paint and had the previous owner's name printed faintly across the side. I had always wanted to put our name on there but they had a long name and ours wouldn't have covered up theirs all the way. The wood underneath the mailbox had also rotted away and the box was barely hanging on by one lone screw. The door had been sticking for awhile because one of those screws had fallen out and the one I had used to fix it was too long so anytime I stuck my arm in there I had to be careful not to scrape myself. I had been meaning to fix the door and replace the board that the mail box sat on for awhile.

So to the scumbag that woke us up at 3 AM as well as all of my neighbors- Thanks, I needed to get on that. And now WE (Me and Dave) have our first official mailbox at our first home with OUR names on it. It feels like a rite of passage or something. I know I should feel violated but I don't. I'm really happy. I'm home. We are home.