Home to a Thick Lush Lawn

I slept great and woke feeling like a champ to blue skies and seasonably cool temps – only 53 degrees at 730am. I started a pot of coffee then played around online for an hour or more before heading out on a run. Opted to skip calisthenics like I’d done all week. I still took the time to meditate and stretch, both of which provide just as much or more benefit as the calisthenics.

Completed my run before any of the overnight guests were up. Mindy was already up by the time I got back home from my three mile run. We both expressed surprise that Olivia wasn’t up, while not at all surprised that the older girls remained asleep. Guessing it was somewhere near 10am when Olivia joined us. She asked for coffee. We obliged her request by making her kiddie coffee (coffee, chocolate milk, whipped cream).

Once the others were awake, Mindy gleefully whipped up a batch of pancakes while I toiled with our vacation photos. The biggest thing on my Friday agenda was getting the lawn in shape. I got started on that around 11am, or shortly after a few pancakes. The plan was for Olivia to stick around until Ashley came to get her after work.

She and the other girls played all day long, occasionally outdoors, and then back inside. The lawn was lush and thick. I decided to change things up a bit by trimming, edging and blowing first. Although I knew I’d have to blow a second time after the mowing. The problem with doing it only once at the end is that the leaves that almost continuously fall from our weeping mulberry trash the freshly groomed lawn. I wanted to get them blown out from the beds before the mowing.

We were blessed with temps in the low 70s, at least while I was mowing. Never once did I break into the soaking sweat that I’m used to. The lawn looked fantastic by the time I finished. Before putting the tractor away, I let Livy drive it around the yard. Problem was, she’s too light to keep the engine running. Against her desires, we had no choice but to ride together. I let her steer.

I did an emergency watering soon after arriving home Thursday evening, but opted to water everything again Friday afternoon, giving all the flowers a premium soaking. Olivia helped and had me douse her with the hose. By then it was approaching 80 degrees. It was really nice! We noticed to sizeable critters floating in the pond back near the treehouse. Wasn’t really sure what they were but suspected them to be raccoons.

Ashley came after Olivia near 5pm. I gave Olivia a few dollars so she could get a Happy Meal from McD’s on the way home. And speaking of dinner, Mindy, the kids and I made plans to go to Barley’s, but not until 7pm or so. In fact, I didn’t get a shower until almost 6pm.

Even though it was only Friday, I had that sinking feeling in my stomach that often accompanies the end of a vacation – that dreaded return to work. Monday, I knew, would come really fast. Both kids were excited about going to Barley’s. We opted to take the Accord, having not driven it since the Wednesday prior ( I drove the BM’er the previous Thursday).

We opted for community table seating, but at the time we were the only ones there. Steve end up being our server even after Chelsea advised seconds prior that she’d be taking care of us. Steve’s very good! I started with a ZIPA – a zesty IPA, and one I really like. And between the four of us, we went through 3 orders of fries with buffalo sauce before ordering dinner. We decided to wait after getting word from neighbor Pat that he, Lisa and daughter Alaena would be joining us. Thinking they got there around 8pm or maybe even a little after.

Good to see them. We don’t get to hang out that much but when we do we always have a good time. We shared vacation stories, ours now completed, theirs coming up the following week. Alaena is headed for Ireland for a couple of weeks while the two of them head off to Chicago for a handful of days. Sounds fun!

We finally got around to ordering dinner, well, at least everybody but me. I was the lone exception. I wasn’t that hungry and figured I would pick at Mindy and the kids plates. I ended up eating half of Mindy’s Lonestar sandwich. I ordered a 2nd beer, too, a Centennial. But after the ZIPA, it didn’t taste that good. At Barley’s until 930pm or so. Invited the neighbors to join us on our deck. They accepted.

It was a lovely evening, the temperature hovering around 70 degrees under mostly clear skies. While enjoying a couple more beers Jacob and I let off 5 of the roman candles we bought in Tennessee. Each of the five in the variety pack had different features, and all were much nicer than those we’ve purchased elsewhere.

The cops pulled up in front of our next door neighbor’s house shortly after letting off the fireworks. We wondered if someone called them. They never did get out of their car and walk back. The cruised by a couple of times. Pat, Lisa, and Alaena hung out for about an hour. Shortly after their departure we headed up to bed. Guessing it was near 11pm.