It's Official

We are now the Chicago Outfit.

And When it Was Rainy

We went to the movies

where we found the beach.

Our Private Stretch

Each year we stay in an older but well-maintained small space here.

 

And the bonus is having our own little stretch of this practically to ourselves.

 

Really.

 

I'm afraid the new construction in the always before empty lot, may bring some crowding...

Surf

Sand

Nerdy Burger Defeated

Beach Week 2017

Why so serious?

He just doesn't look as generally amused as she does.

Summer Break

Means a summer mid-afternoon dance party that reaches the ceiling.

Do that 2.5 hours before a house showing when I have a one hour meeting nestled in there?

Thanks for the challenge, ladies.

 

 

Bring it on.

Eyeglasses

 

Alida has eyeglasses.

Now we can tell them apart and teach people how to pronounce her name.

Other Odd Things

That have happened to me recently.

 

As we waited for the bus one of the final times this year, a red truck drove up to our remote cul de sac. And a man came out.  He said he was our neighbor, and there was no reason not to believe him because our neighbors here are remote and generally as secluded as we are.  He asked if he could walk onto our property to find his dog, who had a tracker but hadn't moved since the previous evening.

 

Well, of course.

 

Then he stepped out from behind the truck and the girls' eyes became as big as saucers at the gun holstered to his hip.  "Oh, this.  It's for snakes," he says.

 

And the bus arrived and it was suddenly safer to send them off in that thing than have them close at home.  And the man wandered off into the forest.  And I ran off, literally, on a morning run.

 

And when I returned, his truck was still there.  So, I just snapped a picture of the license plate and sent it off to Patric, asking him to just keep that for today.  And it may have been the first time here that I've actually turned the locks on the doors while I was home alone during the day.  The children brought in the note above when they returned from school.

 

End of story.

Except I returned home from somewhere a couple of days later and there was another note attached to the mailbox--not a broken leg, it was a snakebite. As in he returned and placed an update on my mailbox.  I'm still wondering why.

Post Roadtrip

Found this cleaning out the car.

 

And shook my head.

 

and after some questioning, found out that Nicholas had become bored during a Boy Scout meeting and found some paper to doodle on.

 

 

Chicago

Our new neighbors...

 

...will probably wonder about us.

 

We managed to play and explore our new neighborhood, meet some new friends, have a water balloon fight with them and a soccer game in the park.  And generally relaxed without any furniture a couple of days.

 

The big move--too dang soon, yet not soon enough.

It took a week after returning to get used to the heaviness of the air here again.

Memorial Day Weekend Roadtrip

Started out before we started with a dead battery.

But some nice kid with a very large Jeep jumped us off so we could go get that replaced.

 

And then we crammed that van uncomfortably full and took off for Chicago.

 

Fast Food

Just side salads please.

 

Just a cup of chili please.

 

Abandoned French Fries.

 

Double bacon cheeseburger?

Yes!

Girls

You made slime from memory and a bunch of my stuff, even after I told you there was no Borax in this house.

And then you cleaned up the mess and packaged up gifts of slime for all of your friends.

 

When I had to take the boys to Boy Scouts at 6 in the morning on a Saturday, I returned to breakfast.

And you cleaned up the mess!

 

And then, you come down and show me your blue hair and your pig face, and I can't help but smile.

 

Every sleepless night, so worth it.