First off, apologies for not providing an update last night. As the alternate title suggests, I was seduced last night and distracted from providing an update. No, not the seduction you may have been thinking of...I was seduced by Dale's Pale Ale, Highlands Gaelic Ale, and King's Hard Tail Ale. But more on that later...
It is a beautiful morning here in A-ville. We're sitting outside on the patio eating breakfast. It's about 65 degrees, sunny with a hint of a breeze and children's screams on the air.
Yesterday was beautiful as well. S&K had to head to school for a meeting, so we were on our own for a while. After breakfast (and a little quesadilla crust throwing incident I've managed to not yet tell S&K about, sorry!), we ventured downtown. On the way, we stopped at Starbucks (how can S&K not drink coffee? not American...) and I got a cup with a hole in the bottom (thanks, Starbucks). We then went to the Children's Museum at the Pack Place. Very fun. The kids were fascinated by "Mr. Bones," a bike riding skeleton, and all of the hands-on exhibits there, especially the golf ball momentum games and the "dizzy tunnel." Yet again, we gave the kids their cameras and I fear that we will have a lot of pictures of carpet and other pictures. Oh well.
After a well-spent couple of hours at the museum, we headed over to the Mellow Mushroom for lunch. Yum. Cat and I had been there before--twice, in fact, the weekend of S&K's wedding. After some very creative coloring of the mushroom castle (Annie), a colorful copperhead (Jack), and a herd of baby elephants (Will), the kids demolished the pizza (you can go ahead an nominate me for parent of the year for letting them have pizza 2 out of 3 consecutive meals). I continued to support the local brewing economy and had a couple Kashmir Pale Ales.
After lunch (and a brief stop for a cookie treat for good behavior), it was back to the house for naptime, and I continued to set a good example for the boys and took a nap myself on the inflatable mattress that they've been sleeping on. This is a good time to explain our sleeping arrangements: the kids begin each evening with one taking a turn on the sleeping bag on the floor [a coveted position], and 2 on the king sized mattress, all in the office. The 4th starts on our [Cat's & mine] bed in a different room, and eventually gets moved to the inflatable when I head off to bed. Anywho, I managed to get a little snooze in with the boys.
The afternoon was spent in the wonderland that is the backyard, terrorizing the cats Py and Maggie (much to Sam's secret pleasure, sorry Kendra) and making up fun with the hammock, wagon, and S&K's firewood. Later we headed to the park to watch the first of S&K's kickball game (go Last Ones Picked!), where we also enjoyed throwing the frisbee and kicking the kickball. Between games, the kids got to run the bases and practice their kickball skills. Much fun. Also, Sambo and I reminisced about our kickball glory days at good old UP Elementary. The kids made a new friend (hi, Jeremy!) and cheered on our favorite kickballers.
We left the second game early and got a table at Beef O'Brady's to feed the ravening hordes and await the arrival of the victorious LOP's. (Or is that LO'sP?) There I was introduced to Dale's Pale Ale and I reintroduced mysself to the local Gaelic Ale. The kids were very well behaved--we were proud as all of them tried something new, fried garlic mushrooms, even though there were no real fans. Annie thought it was some kind of fish, which may have turned the rest of them off. Will actually managed to eat an entire one--very bravely--and then almost sadly let us know that he really didn't like them. But everyone was very grown up in at least tasting them. (I've just realized that we had a mushroom theme going on yesterday...)
Eventually, the kids wore themselves (and us) out, and we headed home to bed. Well, the kids went to bed at least. The grownups (at least the boys) watched the All Star Game (way to go Michael Young!) and the ladies enjoyed the cool outdoor weather on the patio.
All in all, it was a fun day. The kids' favorite thing was watching Aunt Kendra and Uncle Sam play kickball and playing at the park. No significant traumas, real or imagined. I think that the kids really appreciated spending consecutive nights at the same place--and not in a hotel! Today we're off to the NC Arboretum, perhaps a trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a viewing of Wall-E.
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