A long, busy (but happy) Tuesday

Tuesday was a busy, busy day.

I dropped Lu off at school, then went on a brisk 30 minute bike ride with YaYa. My stamina is definitely improving to 2008 levels, thank God. Then we practiced baseball for awhile before she wigged out.

Midway through the day I picked up Lu from school and we spent a good half hour on the playground, where a teacher said something that will prompt a post of its own soon.

But that's for later: today Lu attacked the monkey bars, and after her customary hesitation she mastered them with ease.



Afterwards, she went roller skating outside.



Later in the day the whole family packed up and dropped YaYa off at my sister for a sleepover, then went to the bank. Nearby a homeless woman stood by the highway begging for food. Lisa didn't hesitate to drive to Burger King and buy her a Whopper and a drink. Lu, Smiley and I walked it to the woman, who thanked the kids and then went behind a bush to eat her meal. I was thankful - had she simply ignored it and resumed begging, as has sometimes been the case when we've done this, it would have given the kids the impression that all beggars are charlatans.

Kudo's to Lisa for her charity.

Then we went over to a car wash and started to clean the interior of the car. We filled two huge garden sized trash barrels and discovered a wealth of items - the missing tickets to the May dance recital, clothing, our Kanye West and NKOTB discs, LuLu's summer school schedule, a car battery, and a funeral mass card from one Elizabeth West. Ms. West was born March 22, 1874 and passed away April 30th, 1957.

I have no idea who she was or how she is connected to our family, or why her mass card appeared in our 2006 Ford.

From there we split up. Lisa dropped Smiley and I off at Best Buy, while she and the girls perused a local strip mall. Once he and I were done we got word that - surprise! - the ladies weren't done shopping. So we walked to meet them, a pretty decent haul that looked deceptively shorter than it was.

Smiley was really talkative Tuesday, and it was a joy to behold. He said "Poorple (purple)", a few two and three word sentences, and on the walk, when I asked if he'd walk all the way home if it meant stopping at a jungle gym, "walk all way home". He was also very helpful in picking out the new camera battery, even going so far as to compare our old one to the one in the packaging before nodding his approval.

Once we were reunited we decided on a whim to go out to eat, choosing a nearby Ponderosa as the place to drop $30 we can't really spare. I consumed approximately 8,000 calories, and the rest of the family did their fair share of damage to the buffet. One cute thing: Smiley misunderstood the server's role there (all they do is bring you drinks) and kept asking her "me ice cream please".

[btw, bread pudding is always my dessert of choice there. Anyone have a good recipie?]

On the way home Lu fell asleep, but woke up in time to remember my promise to help her practice riding without training wheels. Fine. We went in front and went at it, but I'll cop to being very frustrated with her. She can ride fine, going four or five yars perfectly. But as soon as she realizes you've let go she visibly freaks and falls over with a melodramatic scream. Over. And over.

I passed her off to Lisa, who tried taking her around the block. I practiced with Smiley, who's way too young to do it but loves trying.



After a few minutes Lisa returned with LuLu, having completed her circuit of the block. Cue a fall and scream.

"Did she do that the whole way?" I asked.

"Yup."

"Better you than me," I said. "You have my pity."

She was just too tired to handle the bike riding, so we packed the kids off for bed and spent the rest of the night highlighting Lisa's hair and getting packed for her upcoming trip.

A busy day. But a good one.