Celebrating the Fourth

I just love the fourth of July. I love the family-time together and that it is often spent with extended family. I love the way the community and country celebrates together. I love the barbecues. I love seeing Old Glory proudly displayed everywhere. I love dressing up in red, white, and blue and not feeling strange that my kids and husband and I are all a little bit coordinated (clothing-wise, anyway.) I love hearing the Star-spangled Banner. I love watching the parades, even when it is a shade-less 100+ degrees outside. I love the fireworks. I love watching the kids' amazement at the colorful sparkles against a late-night sky and hearing everyone ooh and ah in harmony. I LOVE the fourth of July!

This year, we spent the long weekend with Allen's family. We drove to Melissa Thursday evening and somehow got SO lucky! We managed to need to exit at a closed exit. When we continued west, the exit we needed next was blocked by five miles of four lanes of unmoving cars. And to make things even more special, our little car had about a dozen loud kids in it (so it seemed.) I was glad to make it to the Kaisers' before midnight, and although it seemed MUCH longer, it only took about 30 minutes more than normal.

Friday was fun. We had a few minutes to spare before we were to meet Jason and Jenn, and the kids were restless, so we went to hunt some nearly letterboxes. We ended the morning finding the two we set out to find, and in the process we introduced Randy and Shelley to our hobby, and let the kids explore a cemetery. Then we went to the pool for swimming and a barbecue. With six adults to four kids, it still was exhausting, but we had a wonderful time together. There was a small kids pool that Ben gleefully jumped into. Although he could stand in the 18-inches of water, when he jumped, he'd sit on the bottom then spring up out of the water. It continually scared ME, but he'd wipe his face and hop out to do it again. Other times, he'd just lunge through the water on his tummy, sink to the bottom, and happily repeat the process just to frighten me. After awhile I couldn't tell if he was enjoying the "swimming" or the making-Mama-jump-game, but either way, he is definitely getting comfortable in the H2O. The kids and I napped all afternoon, and it felt great -- why do I always sleep so well after spending time in chlorine and sunshine? That evening, Jason & Jenn, and Allen & I spent hours trying to decide what to do -- we ended up at Barnes & Noble, so I had a great time.Saturday was the Fourth, so I woke up excited. Have I mentioned how much I love Independence Day? After we got the kids dressed, we took our family photos before the kids could get messy. It was fun comparing the changes over the last year, and I hope we remember to take these same posed pictures every year. It sure takes a lot of patience to get four kids to sit still and smile all at the same time. After almost 100 quick pictures, we ended up liking the first photo the best. Within moments of starting the photo-shoot Jon was playing with his shirt, Maddie was pouting, Ben was running around (or away), and Will was making silly faces. Welcome to my life behind the Nikon and thanks for the help Nana & Papa!We tried to get the kids to take an early nap so we could have happy kids for the community parade, but they didn't snooze too long before we had to wake them up. It was ridiculously hot and sunny for a 2:30pm parade in July in Texas, but we went anyway. Randy, being on City Council, was in the parade, and he managed to get Will tucked in the convertible with him. Will was thrilled to be part of the parade, and he waved happily to the bystanders even though they couldn't see him through his sunhat. The little kids, Allen, Shelley, Jason, Jenn and I sat on the sidewalk waving at the parade, collecting the goodies, and trying to stay cool. Ben, who seems to love to see firetrucks, ambulances, and police cars, also loves to imitate the sirens (contributing to my and Allen's lack of hearing.) However, when the real vehicles creeped by with siren blaring, Ben couldn't hide fast enough. Many of the photos I took don't show Ben because he was behind Allen terrified. Maddie cowered by Daddy, too, but from what I remember, Jon covered his ears and stood his ground shouting, "WOUD, MAMA! WOUD!"

We went back to the house because it really was insane to be outside in the extreme heat. After a while, Randy went back for some ceremonies, then Shelley and Will went back to the park for the inflatable gyms and carnival games. Allen and I did our best to get the little ones to go to bed early. Again, it was a struggle to calm the kids so they'd rest, and it wasn't long before we woke them again. This time, we were taking them for their first fireworks show. I had some idea of what the little ones' reactions would be, and they didn't surprise me. When we were getting in the car, some neighbors were setting some off. With the first whistle and bang, Ben raced into the back of the car. Maddie cowered behind me. Jon said "Wow." When the real show started three hours after their bedtime, they were excited. Jon copied the crowd with his "Oooh! Pretty!" and later with "I want more! More fireworks!" Maddie was restless, going back and forth between the protective arms of Papa and Daddy. Ben snuggled with me or with Allen, and seemed to enjoy the beauty of the fireworks, but not the noise. As soon as he could, he started asking to go home to his bed. Was it worth it to wake them? I think so -- they are still talking about "Pretty fireworks in da sky!"

Sunday we woke up to lots and lots of rain.The heat-relief was welcomed, but the house seemed small with four busy kids, so we let them play outside. After the kids got over the shock of being in the rain, we all enjoyed it. Nana brought out an umbrella, sidewalk chalk, riding toys, and balls, and we all had fun. That afternoon, Allen and I ran some errands and visited the used bookstore. Last week on the way to the beach, I read one of the Magic Tree House series to Will, and we loved it. I was on a mission to find some more of the series, but we left the store with a lot more than just the kids' books. The long-weekend seemed to end too quickly, but it was definitely a fun way to spend three days.

Year to Year

The left photos were taken last year on the 4th of July (2008) and the right photo was this year's. Last year, the family pictures quickly became some of my favorite photos, so I wanted to take them again this year. I am hoping we can continue the poses and watch the kids grow. (You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)
In the top set, from left to right are Jon and Will (on my lap), and Ben and Maddie (on Allen's). In the lower photos, from left to right are Jon, Ben, Will, and Maddie.

PS -- it's also nice to see the results of Allen's and my healthy habits. ;)

Bronzed Blond Babes

Last week, I explained to Allen that it took all day to post an update. He informed me that he could tell I was busy because the story wasn't "spun" as well. As much as I enjoy spinning the tales, this is a season in my life when I can't seem to make the time to tell it so well. I'm just going to get the facts and little quips down while they are still a bit fresh on my mind. Hopefully, when I'm done updating, I'll have a record of what we've been doing, the kids will be unharmed, and the house will still be in one piece. One of these days, they'll all be in school, I'll have all the time I need to tell the stories, but I won't have quite as many to tell. Until then, this will have to do -- my kids need my lovin'.

Thursday we arrived at Corpus Christi for a fun family vacation -- in fact, it was the first official family vacation since the triplets joined our family. Well, at least it was the first time we went somewhere together with only one thing on the agenda: have a great time together. We spent Wednesday night in Waco, then Thursday morning we hit the road for a long drive. We stopped in Halletsville, TX, for a picnic lunch, and we were so lucky to find an awesome city park for a quick bite, and to let the kids run, climb, and play. We found a few letterboxes along the way to the hotel, and we finally arrived. After unloading the car, we found a Greek restaurant, filled up on gyros, then headed back to get the kids and mama-with-a-migraine in bed.

Friday morning we got the kids fed in the hotel cafe. Even though we were split at two adjacent tables, we got lots of comments about how full our hands are. Although I get really sick of hearing, "Wow, your hands are full!" when people come up to us to say, "I've been watching your family and you've brought me a lot of joy this morning," it makes it all worthwhile. We spent the morning at the Corpus Christi aquarium then had a picnic lunch in the parking lot while I griped that Dad was feeling the gulls. I do love to be right, though, and it wasn't long before Jon threw his sandwich out the back of the van explaining that he was doing what Granddad was doing. The little ones napped in the car on the way back to the hotel, but that was expected and planned. We took the scenic route around the bay and attempted a few more letterboxes. The first two, Will and my Mom jumped out of the car ready to go, but we didn't find the second one and Will was pretty bummed about it. On the third one, Allen stayed with the snoozers, Dad and Will went to look for shells, and Mom and I dug around dirt and leaves but found a beautiful stamp.

When we made it back to the hotel, we changed into our beach gear. While I was busy in the room, Allen was juggling kids in the hallway and a family walked by and asked if we had triplets. They weren't asking to ooh and ah; they pointed out that they had a family like ours -- two boys and a girl triplets with an older brother. That gives me hope that when they're a bit older, we'll still be able to find hotels that will let us all stay in the same room. We walked across the street with our arms loaded with kids, buckets and shovels, towels, and who-knows-what. That was the first time the kids were ever on the beach and they LOVED every bit of it . . . mostly. We walked them out to the waves and Will and Ben were thrilled and kept on going. Maddie and Jon were a bit timid, but eventually figured out how to have fun. Maddie was content digging in the sand with only her toes getting wet, Jon was comfortable in the water if he was holding me, Will just kept on going, and Ben couldn't get enough. Several times I'd look up from the water and see Ben on his tummy inching his way deeper. When the waves came, he'd lift his head, close his mouth, and squint. He figured it out pretty quickly. We splashed, chased shellfish, watched waves and fish, collected seashells, and made sand sculptures for several hours. When we started getting hungry, we headed back to clean up and went for some dinner. We got back to the hotel and had a quick birthday celebration for Dad. It was a busy day, and we expected the kids to crash. What we didn't expect was for Ben to wait for us to be busy, climb out of his pack & play, open the room door, and wander into the hall. Allen recovered Ben, Ben got a scolding, and we were much more cautious at bedtime.

Saturday was another busy day, but that's how our vacations always are. We went to Mustang Island State Park and hit the beach again. Since the public beach was clean and uncrowded, we expected the state park to be even nicer, but we were in for some disappointment. After we paid the fee to get into the park, we explored by car and decided where we'd camp for the day. We unloaded all the beach toys and kids and headed for a covered picnic table. That was the nice part, what wasn't nice were all the cigarette butts, beer cans, and trash between the table and the sea. We cleaned up our area and the kids got busy building sandcastles. The waves were stronger than the previous day, so Maddie never got very wet. She had her fun collecting shells and building with the sand. Ben and Will had fun in the water most of the time, and Jon went back and forth. The kids had long naps in the afternoon, we had an early dinner, then we all enjoyed the hotel pool. It has been interesting watching the progression of confidence of the kids with the water. Maddie couldn't have been happier jumping into the pool, even when her head went under, she'd blink hard, but come up laughing. Ben is ready to start swimming, and he and Jon enjoyed being scooted between adults. Neither of them were upset being underwater, and they both enjoyed showing off their bubble-skills. Will started pretty timid, only wanting to cling to one of us, but before we went in for the night, he had scooted around the perimeter, and enjoyed running and jumping into the pool. We used the outdoor showers and our Johnson & Johnson's samples and bathed the kids before putting them in bed.

Sunday was an all-day travel day. We started early, went to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge, then headed "home" to Waco. The Refuge was hot and buggy -- after a few small stops, the triplets and I stayed in the car where the A/C was on and the mosquitoes were out. Allen, Will, and my parents hiked a few trails but I don't think the wildlife was interested in being hot, either. We did see several deer, lots of bids, and many more blood-suckers than I cared to count. The drive back was long, broken up by a few potty stops. We counted this vacation as a success -- we all had an awesome time! Just like the blueberry patch, it was great to find a place that had something to offer each of us. We enjoyed it together, and that was the important part. Thanks Mom & Dad for helping us on our vacation!

We are home for a short week, and I think that's just enough time to get all the salt and sand out of our clothes, shoes, and car. Allen and I got just a little more sun than we wanted, and the kids are suddenly really tan. I love the sun-kissed smiles and the way their blond hair glistens -- the healthy-glow and beauty that the sun bestows upon them. We had a wonderful time, even though I don't seem to have enough photos to show it all. Since we sent our point-and-shoot to be repaired, all we had was our SLR. With our upcoming travels, we didn't want to ruin the fancy camera with saltwater and sand, so we didn't get many pictures. We have a few, and the memories are still vivid, so it will do.

Go, Go, Go, Go, Go, Go!

Last week was a busy whirlwind of activity. Monday through Friday Will attended zoo camp from 9am to noon. Since the zoo is across town, the triplets and I spent most of that time at the zoo, too. By the end of the week, they knew where to find their favorite animals, and Will had learned a lot, too.

One of the kids' favorites was the penguin exhibit. When we were splashing in the pool Thursday night, they had their beach balls and were pretending to be penguins. Will had studied penguins the day before so he was quite the expert. Imagine Allen's surprise, when, watching the four kids play, Will shouted at the little kids (but for all the neighborhood to hear,) "NO! Penguins don't HAVE balls!"

After two full mornings at the zoo, I was ready for a change of pace. After we dropped Will off, I took Ben, Maddie, and Jon and we stopped in ProCuts so the boys could get haircuts. They were perfect little angels in the chairs, and we were the only ones in the shop, so the stylists got a few extra hugs and smiles before the kids chose their lollipops and we headed out. Our next stop was the library for preschool story time. I wasn't sure how this would go since the last time we attempted a public story time, it was a stressful mess for me. Luckily, the stories kept their attention, then there was a short film related to the stories, and the kids enjoyed it. I think we'll do this more this summer since it turned out to be fun for all of us. We left after the program and went to get Will. We got their just early enough to get in the wagon and stroll through the zoo to find Will. Thursday, we ran to the grocery store and Walmart, then took groceries home. That was the only day we didn't go into the zoo, but went just far enough to get Will.

Friday, we ran into a friend of mine at the zoo. Leslie was on an outing with her 11-month-old triplets and her husband. We let the kids watch each other -- one trio seeing another trio. It was interesting, but I would've loved to have known what they were thinking. I don't know if mine realized they were looking at triplets, or were just fascinated by all the babies, or the wagon that was almost the same as our Radio Flyer we used this week. (Thanks for the photo, Leslie!)

The kids learned from granddad that bamboo is the tall plant that grows in the zoo and in the wild, pandas eat it. Each time (and there were M A N Y times) we passed bamboo, the kids would grab my hand and shout, "Bamboom! Bamboom! Panda-bear-food!" Friday, Jon stopped and filled his pockets with the bamboo leaves and I soon forgot about it. At nap-time that afternoon, I checked on the kids, and Jon was laying in his bed eating leaves. When I asked what he was doing, he proudly told me he was a panda-bear, eating his bamboom.

By the end of the week, with temperatures almost at 100-degrees each day, we were worn out, but we kept on going all weekend. Saturday, Allen, his dad, and brother went to the skeet shooting range for the morning. Shelley and I took the kids to the East Texas Oil Museum. I was searching for a kid-friendly indoor activity, and the museum was one that Will had been wanting to visit. After a long drive we arrived, and everything was going well. . . .until we came to a large statue of a man. The giant terrified Ben and Maddie, and that started the exhausting kid-carrying leg of the trip. We all sat in a tiny "elevator" for a puppet show and journey to the middle of the earth to see the rock formations. The shaking made Ben nervous, so he clung to me even more. At the end of the show, I stood up, and held both arms out for Jon -- Ben was clinging so tightly, I didn't have to use my arms to support him. We wandered around the oil-booming Main Street and just as Jon looked into the machine shop, the mannequin came to life and scared the tar out of Jon. From that point on, Jon clung to me and continuously told me, "Bye-bye now, Mama. I want bye-bye." Maddie was in Shelley's arms, and I did my best to carry two 25-pound little boys. We eventually got back in the car, headed to a burger-joint, then headed home. The guys played Rockband for a bit, and I was impressed that Jon copied his Daddy so well that he was keeping the exact beat that Allen was -- too bad it wasn't for real points, or we'd have been even more impressed with the score of a 2-year old.

Sunday was another busy day, but we had a blast! We found something different to do to celebrate Father's Day. Starting the day early to avoid the heat, Allen, the kids, and I went to a local blueberry farm to pick our own berries. I wasn't too sure what to expect, but if things didn't work out, we would just pack it up, buy some of the pre-picked berries and head home. What a treat it was that we all enjoyed it so much. We headed out into the fields, then I showed the kids which ones were the berries we wanted to pick. I even showed them how to drop them in the baskets, but I don't know why I bothered. After a few minutes of picking happily, I popped a ripe berry into each of their mouths, and that was the end of the collection process. After the little taste, it became a branch-to-mouth process for the little kids. When I asked Maddie if she was going to put any in her basket, she mumbled through the berries , "No! Put it in m'mouf!" When I asked where she put her basket, she claimed, "Mama can carry basket -- I put blueburries in m'mouf." After Ben tasted a few, he plopped himself on the ground to eat all the berries in his basket. He just kept stuffing them in, then when the basket was empty, he stood up to pick the berries just to eat them. Jon ate all his, but then collected some. We ended up dumping them all though, because by the end, there was a few inches of sand, leaves, and grass on top of the berries. After Ben had his fill, he sat in the sand and played -- filling his basket with the sand or tossing it to the wind. Jon continued collecting leaves, and Maddie kept picking and eating berries. Eventually she must have started filling her belly because the sweet little thing brought berries to Allen, me, and her brothers. She'd march up to us, shout, "Mouf!" demandingly, and we knew we were supposed open up so she could plop a ripe one in our mouths. Will, on the other hand, completely GOT it!! He did do his share of sampling, but he gathered enough to add to the collection to take home. Somehow (and with a little help from Mama) Will kept finding the biggest blueberries I've ever seen. Those were the ones he went around showing all of us. Every few minutes, he'd peek into my basket or Allen's to compare the stashes, and he was so proud when he had more. We eventually explained to him that I was dumping mine into Allen's bucket since he had the bigger one, and I still had Maddie's little basket. As big as the field was, the kids stayed close. When we'd call for them, they'd scurry over to us if they were mobile, or they'd shout "huh?" if they were playing in the sandpile. After we left the field, we stopped in the shop to pay for our basket of berries, and share some blueberry muffins -- the best I've ever had. YUM! We asked each of the kids, "Where did you put your berries?"

Will: "In the basket to bring home."

Ben: "In my here (pointing to his mouth)."

Maddie: "No-Ben put it in sandbox. I put it in m'mouf!"

Jon: "I ate it!"

It was remarkable that we could all find something to enjoy together, even if we weren't all picking the berries for the same reasons. I used a water bottle to splash the kids in the car on the way home so they wouldn't fall asleep, then we had lunch, and the kids (and Allen) napped for about three hours.

While they all rested, I filled the kids' pool and laid in it. I loved every bit of peace as I floated on the water listening to the wind in the trees, the birdsong, and the wind chimes. Eventually the kids woke up and got in the pool for the afternoon. While they splashed or played with Allen, I watched until they convinced me to get in with them. After a while Maddie wanted to chalk on the porch, so I wet part of it and she asked me to make a Nemo. That was fun till the boys came over and erased it. Then I made another, and Will drew a shark. The kids and I chalked and that somehow turned into face-painting and Allen grabbed the camera. I painted their faces, then Maddie and Jon painted mine. I had a wonderful time and it was worth it to still have a few funny colors on my face the next day. After dinner and bedtime, Allen and I finished the game of Empire Builder we started the day before.

It's funny that Father's Day turned out to be one of MY favorite days this year, but I'll take it. It was great to enjoy my family by letting go and acting like a kid. I had to grow up a little bit to help get everyone cleaned up, but I loved it all. We ended the day with thankfuls prayer that we have such wonderful dads and grandfathers, and that I've been blessed with a terrific husband who is an awesome dad.

Today is Monday again, and for the next few days, we are staying put. In fact, they will be lazy days for the kids, full of playing inside and out, reading books, and taking normal naps. I am scurrying to get all the laundry cleaned and put away just so I can find what we need to pack for our beach trip later this week. Today was such a "lazy" one that the triplets were outside and muddy before I realized they were still in pajamas and didn't have on pants. Oh, well. Now they are napping in diapers and (I think) everything has been washed and dried.

New word choices

Maddie's new words:
"Heymom" and "Heydad" . . . used like this: "Heydad, hold me please!" and "Good morning, Heymom!" I don't know when I went from being "mama" to "heymom," but I'm not sure I like it. We'll see how it goes.

Ben's new word combo:
"Milkonit" as in "Mama, I want milkonit, please" (in reference to his bowl of cereal.) This is said as all one word, and I often have to ask him to repeat himself because I can't understand what he is saying. Friday was the first time I have ever put milk on Ben's, Maddie's, and Jon's cereal. My pediatrician couldn't believe they didn't have cereal with milk, but he OBVIOUSLY hasn't tried feeding three toddlers while drinking a cup of coffee. So we are on the fourth day of wet, crunchy-turns-slimy breakfasts. They are so happy about it, but they sure take their sweet time eating.

This weekend a friend asked if I was blogging less because I updated Facebook frequently. My response was that I thought I blogged less because the kids aren't napping regularly, but when I looked through some of my Facebook updates, I realized they sometimes say a lot. So, here are my "updates" from the last week for those who aren't Facebooking yet.

• 6/10 - I have a box of the best toys these kids have EVER played with . . . they were the old ones they outgrew a year ago and were by the door ready to be given to someone else to love.
• 6/11 - Had high hopes for today, be now we are running two hours behind and the sun hasn't woken up yet. The weather radio kept me up all night, and the triplets were up during the worst part of the storm. Mama is very sleepy so we are making coffee and planning to stay home. On the positive side. . . my garden is blooming and the flowers liked the rain.
• 6/11 - Disadvantage to checking FB a bit too long -- the triplets got into my bathroom and emptied the cabinets and whatever inside them was empty-able (soap, toothpaste, towels and unmentionables) Advantage -- the soap was all over the floor with their clothes and blankies, so the floor got mopped (with the blankies) and all their lovies got put in the washing machine without a fight.
• 6/11 - Just got off the phone with mom. Will told her today he needed to go check out hell. She was baffled and asked what he meant. He said, "It's like 'hill' but not a mound of dirt or a mountain." She urged him to continue and he said, "It is the lake of fire where Satan is. I don't want to LIVE there, just go to check it out and see what it looks like."
• 6/12 - At age 2.5 they are all ready daring each other. . . .to see who can bite the biggest piece of crayon off and eat it. Jon's tongue is blue and Ben's is orange. Maddie says Jon ate more. I wonder how long until I hear, "Mama, my tumby hurts."
• 6/15 - It's too hot to have been outside all morning, but the kids enjoyed day 1 (of 5) at the zoo. Now I need to get the kids to sleep (again) so I can get a few things done. Foxtrotting tonight and looking forward to it!

Saturday, my parents met us near Arlington and we brought our big boy home. Since it wasn't any more of a drive to go that way for us or them, we decided to get Will then head to a camera store to check out the camera bags. I think we are going to love using the Tamrac backpack we chose -- I love that it has a day-pack and camera bag in one piece. On a whim we called Chris & AnnaLisa to see if they were available for lunch. They went to college with Allen and me, and it was great to get to visit with them and their pretty little girl. We survived eating out with five children between the ages of 2 and 5, and all four of ours slept all the way home.

Sunday started out just grumpy for me. We are all struggling to rediscover our "normal" now that Will is home and he is retesting the limits. Allen and Will rode around the block on the bike, then came home and worked on throwing and catching the baseball. The little kids and I got really, REALLY messy while Allen &Will were out -- we painted the porch with sidewalk chalk, but it made a mess that was BEAUTIFUL!! We wet the pavement, then chalked on it and it looked like watercolors when it was really wet, but like paint if it was just damp. Then we all got the water-table and frisbees out and played all day in the sunshine. When it was time to clean up, we just tossed the kids in the pool with some water, told them to jump and splash, and called them clean enough for dinner. It was a really fun day even though it started out rough. Allen and I got the kids in bed and played board games and then RockBand for awhile. I don't normally enjoy RockBand because I'm not a fan of most rock music, but we added a few Jimmy Buffett songs to the mix and I was singing at the top of my lungs.

Today, Will had his first day of zoo camp. This week he will be at the day camp every morning, and since the zoo is across town, Ben, Maddie, Jon and I will be near there, too. I had the backpack tethers on the toddlers and I had a Radio Flyer wagon with me so I wouldn't have to carry anyone if they got tired. They rode just a little bit, but mostly they walked. Since they did so well at staying near me and stopping and going on command, I never had to use the leashes -- they just stayed tucked away inside the backpacks. We had a wonderful time and I'm looking forward to it again tomorrow.

On the way to the zoo this morning, I was reminded why it seems so much quieter when Will isn't around. . . he doesn't stay quiet for long. He talked and talked and talked and talked all the way there, but at least the story was entertaining. It seems that Shraman has been visiting, and we didn't even know it. Will told me that he and Shraman have been waiting until everyone is asleep at night, then they get up and drink lots of coffee so they can stay up all night watching movies. What kind of movies? "Something called Brown Dove, it is a Spanish movie about Mexico and the foods they eat and the things they do in Mexico, where Shraman lives when he isn't living with us." When I asked Will why I didn't wake up when they were watching the shows, he told me he was drinking inflexible coffee and watching inflexible movies. I opened my eyes wider, and pointed my good ear toward Will, hoping to catch a clue as to what he was talking about. When that didn't work, I asked what he meant by inflexible and he said that meant I couldn't SEE it. I asked, "Do you mean invisible? That is something you can't see." I then explained what inflexible meant and he said, "Well, yes. The movies were invisible, but the coffee was still inflexible because he couldn't bend it or move it." This conversation about his adventures with Shraman lasted the entire 30 minutes, and I'm not sure whether it was the story or the three hours in the sun that wore me out faster. (For those who aren't familiar with Shraman, he is Will's imaginary friend that helped us move from Kansas to Texas two summers ago. He stayed with us for several months, but when his parents died in Mexico, he moved back there and only writes on occassion. It is nice that he's come for a visit, and it will be interesting to see how long he hangs around. He may have been here all last week living in Will's room, I'm just not sure.)

Smells Like Summer

• freshly cut grass
• sunscreen
• sweaty toddlers
• mud
• honeysuckle
• watermelon
• salt water
• chlorine
• barbeque sauce burning on the grill
• corn on the cob
• roasting marshmallows
• bug spray
• cherry popsicles