Mother of the Year

I found a nominee for Mother of the year.... OK, maybe not. I wish I'd had my phone in my pocket when this lady drove by last night.

Picture it. A mini van, driving slowly down the road (a miracle in itself in my neighborhood, driving slowly). On top of the van are 4 heavy duty river rafts, inflated, not tied down. Four inflated river rafts stacked on top of each other are about 6 feet tall. As the car drove by we see 2 children (maybe 11 and 13 years old, more or less) standing on the top of the van holding onto the rafts. I am guessing that they were holding the rafts on so they didn't blow off. The mother, I am assuming that she was their mother, gave us a dirty look as our mouths dropped open when she drove by. She turned the corner and continued out of our sight before I thought to run inside for my camera or my phone.

Nathan watched with us and all he could say was "that looks STUPID". (I let him get away with saying the word "stupid", which is normally not allowed from children at our house. Because he was right. That WAS stupid!) Nathan is a pretty smart kid. Smarter than some mom's I guess. Well, at least one.

July

Summer is half over already. What the heck? Didn't summer used to last longer? I just signed the kids up for their next 3 weeks of summer camp and realized that it is already close to over!

It is a busy summer this year and I imagine that summers will only get busier as the kids get older. I neglected to get Xander signed up for any sports this summer, which with hindsight is a good thing. But he would really like to have an activity like his brother does. Nathan is still doing Aikido twice a week.

Hopefully, Dad will be out of the hospital soon. It seems that we spend a lot of time visiting him there. And I can't imagine that we will spend less time visiting him, but at least it will be at home, and we can be busy cooking dinner and doing projects while we are at it. Two birds with one stone kind of thing.

Optimism

Well, I was right. (I love to say that). When the ventilator was removed from Dad's throat, he began to improve. He did have one major set back since then, but he has recovered from that already. His mood improved which meant that his outlook improved. I can feel optimistic again.

I am sure everyone who reads this blog also reads the one I have set up for Dad so none of this is news. But it feels like I should catch up anyway. Dad is in the hospital close to home now. Mom can just head over to the hospital in the morning and go home for lunch or run errands without having to deal with the traffic around the other hospital, the parking nightmare, the distance from the house, the elevators, and the crowds in that hospital. This one is quiet (mostly) and peaceful and organized. Dad likes it a lot. Which is good, because it looks like he will be there for a while still.

Anna, Dennis and the kids are visiting this weekend. The kids and Dennis haven't seen their Bonka yet. And I am sure that Anna will feel some relief when she sees how much he has improved from the last time she was here to see him.

In the meantime, we are having a Independence Day barbecue at our house. It was initially going to be just a few of us with kids. Burgers, beer, slip and slide, and fireworks. Now that Anna is here and some other out of town visitors it has gotten HUGE. Which is fine with us! The more the merrier, but I am surprised by it all. Hope everyone brings a few fireworks. We are taking it easy on them this year. It seems wrong to do firecrackers without Dad home to enjoy them (and he does enjoy them!!). But a few fountains and some noisemakers will be fun for all the kids. Big and small.

Have a great Independence Day. Be safe and sane. And WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT!!