the party

We started the festivities at 9:00 Saturday morning. Dan’s parents (in other words, some of the kids’ additional grandparents) had a party in honor of the milk carton derby at Green Lake. There were lots of kids in the 1-5 age range, toys to play with, and adults I like talking to. In other words, fun for all.

theater class

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay very long because it was Rose and Miriam’s first day of drama class. Rose has announced several times that she wants to be an actor when she grows up. The kids had a fabulous time. Basically, they acted out a storybook.

the five hour play date

This all happened at the Seattle Children’s Theater in the Seattle Center downtown. We don’t actually go to the Center that often what with parking issues, but really it’s only a 10 minute drive away and full of fun things to do. After class, we hung out on the grass and had a picnic. Then Animal Planet was putting on a do, so we went in the free bouncy castle several times.

David fell asleep on the way home leading to a lovely two hours where Miriam and Rose self-amused, and John and I are worked and napped. Let every day be like that. After David rejoined us, I haphazardly set up the wading pool in the back yard, and all three kids had fun dumping buckets of water everywhere—David mixing dirt into his.

out to dinner with the play pit

We finally took Miriam home at 5:00 and went out to a bar. I know, I know. Went out? A bar? With friends? We’d heard about the Montlake Ale House through the moms’ grapevine. It has a pit for kids. It’s this carpeted pit filled with toys that possibly was used for mud-wrestling or some other scandalous purpose in a previous incarnation. Now, parents throw their kids in and eat dinner. It didn’t work quite as well as we would have liked; David is too little to be in unsupervised, but it still gave them something to do while we took turns eating and talking to our friends who brought their two year old. I liked going out, but the food was only mediocre and I don’t drink. Next time we’ll try the Italian place.

the boat ride

Today, we also left the house before 10:00. Leaving early, by the way, is no hardship. It avoids the “when will it be time to go” drone along with the equally annoying “play with me” nag. Our friends are housesitting a house on the lake with a boat. First, of course, we had to play with the pool table and the piano, but then we all (my sister’s family as well) put on our life jackets and went zooming across the lake. Everyone over two loved it, and David fell asleep.

the five hour play date

We couldn’t linger because Rose had a playdate with a friend from preschool. The bad part—they have two sweet, old, calm dogs. “Aggh, aggh, aggh” goes Rose. The good part—they had a lovely time playing together, and they really wanted Rose to stay through dinner. The good part—she ate the tops off two pieces of broccoli. The bad part—they made a special effort to get her gluten-free pizza, but my picky child didn’t like it. I had packed a snack. From now on, I’ll pack pizza, just in case.

dance class and a trip to the park

Meanwhile, John and I went off to dance class. Hurrah! Old family friends (in other words, some of the kids’ additional grandparents), had a fabulous playdate with David. They had a snack. They took him to the park. The kid didn’t cry once.

evening let down

The minute I showed up, he got a bit crabby. Then Rose returned, tired and not predisposed to listen to her mamma. With ice cream, t-ball, and some weeding, we made it to bedtime unscathed.

And I was worried about what we would do all summer.