Makayla & Lillian Celebrate 6 & 8

Due in part to a not so wild Friday night, I was up and ready to get after it by 6:40am. I felt really good, too. After putting on the coffee I completed a round of sit-ups and push-ups. I was out the door with Ykraps just after 7am. It was another lovely morning with some low lying, scattered fog. By 7:20am I was back inside sipping coffee and playing on the internet. While still at the PC, Mindy came downstairs around 8:30am. She’d gone to bed around 10pm and got a good ten hours of sleep. She & I eventually headed out to her patio to enjoy the lovely morning along with coffee. We weren’t out there too long before all three kids came out, Rocky & Bella first, but Jacob wasn’t too far behind. We hung outside for about 30 minutes. I wanted to head out on my run and Mindy needed to start thinking about her yoga class. Rocky asked if he could join me on my run. No. I hit the trail some where near 9:30am. It was heating up quickly. But perhaps even more noticeable was the soaring humidity. But even in spite of the heat, my run went really well. I was back at home by 10:15am. Mindy was vacuuming the carpets when I thought she’d be readying to leave for yoga. She clarified that the start time wasn’t until 11:45am. She didn’t leave the house for at least another hour. In the meantime, the kids were all over the place, occasionally playing inside our house. When Mindy left I headed out in the yard to do some of those ‘never have time to get to ‘em’ chores. However, cutting the lawn during the week is affording me the opportunity to do them more regularly. During the early afternoon I trimmed the shrubs along the waterline – a chore rarely if ever done mid-summer. I filled a tarp almost full of clippings after hacking more low growth off the deck-side red maples. All totaled, I’ll bet I spent a good 1.5 hours trimming and cleaning up. I had about 3/4s bag of concrete leftover from the early spring retaining wall project. I finally used it up to help support the large rocks I placed out front along the pond’s edge to help stop erosion. We’ll have to wait and see how well it works. Before heading in, I did some minor organizing in the garage and then got Jacob’s old bike down from the ceiling and filled the tires. I promised the boys we’d go on a bike ride later. Mindy was already home from yoga, and the kids were getting ready for Makayla and Lillian’s birthday party. The day was moving fast. They headed on down as soon as it started – 2pm. Mindy and I enjoyed a little quiet time before she headed to the party, too. Meanwhile, I headed for a much needed shower. I headed down to the neighbors around 3:30pm with a glass of ice water in hand. The party was completely underway. After greeting everyone I eventually asked if I could turn on the golf tournament, the PGA championship. I curled up on the leather sofa and planted myself for about the next two hours. Tiger Wood was clinging to a 2 shot lead at the rounds conclusion. By then it was well after 5pm, perhaps closer to 6pm. Not sure exactly. Just before the golf tournament ended, Rocky was climbing around on the bar-type stools surrounding Kenny & Chrissy’s island counter. Next thing I heard was a thud and then Rocky was on the floor crying. He cracked his noggin on a stool or the counter as he fell from his lofty perch. He had a small bump where he hit, and later said he had a headache. Ouch! Because I had promised Rocky & Jacob that we’d go on a bike ride, I held true to my word. The three of us headed off to the park. Rocky followed my directions well, and didn’t try to pull any shenanigans. I was pleasantly surprised. Once we made it to the park we played on the jungle gym/swing sets for about 15 minutes. Rocky demonstrated his strength by doing the monkey bars. Somewhat surprisingly, Jacob tried but couldn’t do them. And it wasn’t even close. He tried at least ten times. I felt sorry for him, but did my best not to show it. Rocky continued to demonstrate his athletic prowess. He climbed to the top wrong of a metal ladder only to hang from his knees. But as soon as he dropped into position, he cracked his head on the bottom rung. I could see the pain written all over his face. Yikes! And he had to hit at just about the same spot as his earlier miscue on the bar stools. Another little kid showed up and demonstrated how he could run up the sliding board. All three began doing it. Not to be out done, the kid wanted to go even faster. However, that time he fell off about 3/4s the way up. Oh no! I expressed concern and asked that they stop. We decided it time to head home. Back in front of the house, Jacob and Rocky wanted to ride just a little bit more before calling it a day. Somehow Rocky crashed into the wooden bridge railing causing him to fall off the bike awkwardly. He was hurt again. I couldn’t believe it. I suggested we bag it. We put the bikes inside and Rocky gathered his things for home. It was well after 7pm when we headed toward Kelly’s. As promised, I phoned Lindsey to give her a heads up that we were on our way. Lindsey & Landon were waiting outside when we pulled up. Landon seemed happy to see me. We played for about five minutes in the front yard. I shared that Rocky had hit his head. Lindsey was very concerned. At one point Kelly came to the front door with a cigarette hanging from her mouth, although it didn’t appear lit. Great, and nice look! I left for home and phoned Mindy along the way. Said she didn’t know that I had left. I shared that Jacob knew, and even declined to ride along. He apparently told his mother that he didn’t l know where I went or was. Mindy said that Kenny ordered pizzas for the party guests. That sounded good. I spent a few minutes at the house before heading back over to the birthday party, which had by then turned into an adult party. Almost everyone was out back either on the deck or playing cornhole. Around 8pm I finally poured my first beer – a Columbus IPA. I also enjoyed several slices of Sporano’s pizza, complements of Kenny. It hit the spot. As darkness set in, I headed inside their house and tuned into the Browns preseason game. Brady Quinn looked pretty good but threw an interception in the endzone one play after his key receiver drop a sure touchdown pass. Same ol’ Browns! As the night heated up, Chrissy, Mindy, and Julie did some dancing in the kitchen. I did not partake short of a brief slow dance to the new Carrie Underwood song, I Told You So, with my wife. Like a couple weeks ago, Mindy headed home before me. She left with Bella, who was reportedly extra sleepy. Jacob stayed with me. During the next hour or so, the kids took over the dance floor. And after four bottled beers, I eventually switched to ice water, keeping in mind our 1015am tee time Sunday morning. While the lion’s share of the party moved elsewhere, I stayed in the kitchen talking to Julie, Chrissy’s bff, and Wendy. Jacob begged off for home somewhere along the way, too. They shared their perspective on Brad, Chrissy’s late husband. Touching stories. Mindy called my cell I’m guessing between 1030 & 1100pm. She asked if I was coming home soon. Yes dear! I was home and in bed 10 minutes later.