Family Night

It was Tuesday and I was up just after 5:30am ready to get moving. I had to prep the morning’s coffee before getting started with anything else. After whipping out my calisthenics I leashed up Ykraps for another morning walk. It was already very summery despite being so early. I could feel it & smell it. Coffee was waiting upon my return. For it I was eager. After the day’s food prep I decided to water flowers before leaving for work since it’s hands down the best time of day to water. So, after woofing down my chow I headed out the door in my PJs. I watered the backyards beds first. Mindy and the kids bidded me farewell just as I was finishing up around back. I moved around to the front. It took just about 20 minutes to soak all the beds, front and back. It was 7:40am by the time I headed in for my shower. I left for work just after 8am. Once at work I learned of an issue with an 11 year old in Grove City who threatened all of his fellow students by leaving a note at the local YMCA. I heard he was arrested. I alerted Mindy. I had a meeting with my boss in the morning. We talked about a number of things including my need to escape on Wednesday morning to attend Bella’s year presentation. We also talked about my desire to sneak out early for our unofficial Wednesday golf league. I left for my run around 12:45pm. Big surprise! It was already in the upper 80’s but the humidity wasn’t that high. Still, it was warm. It felt great to work up such a lather. I was back at my desk by 2pm ready to eat, and eat I did. I talked with Mindy mid-afternoon. I let her know that both my dad and Ashley were planning to join us for dinner. She was expecting that to be the case. I left for home just after 5pm. I made a quick stop at Lowe’s to get a new cotter pin for my lawn (fertilizer) spreader. Without it the wheels get stuck and too much fertilizer gets dumped in one spot. Not good! While walking the animal (Ykraps) we ran into my dad on his way to our home. And by the time we made the turnaround, Ashley pulled up too. We visited for a short while before lighting the grill. We were having brats, asparagus, and baked beans. While waiting for the grill to preheat, Jacob asked that I make him a bow and arrow out of tree limbs. Poof! You’re a bow and arrow! J I first used the stick he brought me. It snapped in two just as I was adding more tension to the bow string. He wasn’t too pleased. I assured him that it was the stick being too brittle and not my intention. We went and found yet another more flexible stick. That one broke soon after turning it over to him for use. There was a learning curve for all of us. Dad eventually helped find the most flexible stick in the yard. They returned with what would end up being a real nice bow. They found some straight sticks to serve as arrows, too. They even had a nice little notch on one end. That entertained Jacob the rest of the evening. Soon the brats were cooked and we all took to the deck for dinner. Olivia joined us too but only ate cantaloupe after some of her baby food. Ashley, I forgot to mention, showed up in her new used car that she bought just the day before – a red, 2000 Chevy Cavalier. Seems like a good deal for the price. We shall see! Both Dad and Ashley left at the same time – about 7:45pm. After they departed Mindy got the kids their baths. I finished cleaning up the kitchen and deck. After tucking in the children I spent an hour updating my blog and playing some on the internet. Mindy watched American Idol. I saw the last song performed by both participants. Jordin was the better singer, no question. We went to bed soon after.