A perfect day.
Jun. 21st, 2006 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
navygreenYesterday (Tuesday) was a glorious day. It was the kind of day that fills my heart with peace and love - a perfect, relaxing day with my family.
I had showered the evening before, and I tumbled out of bed earlier than usual to make it to a 9am dentist appointment for myself. The dental technician and I had lovely conversation, and a typical 30-minute check-up turned into over and hour and a half, but it was so nice.
When I arrived home at almost 11am, I woke up Philip for the day. The boys had been happily playing in the living room, and I got them dressed and had them clean up their toys. We all headed out for a yummy and slow-paced lunch at La Mesa, our favorite Mexican restaurant. Afterwards, we went to Wal*Mart to find Philip some shorts for the summer (we'd donated his old ones to the church a few months ago for their garage sale). He picked out some jean shorts (without trying them on!), and then we meandered around in the toy aisles for a good while. We ended up snagging a few more DVDs for our collection, and then we came on home.
We quickly got the boys changed into their swim trunks, and then we all walked down the block to the Fire Hydrant Party. The boys played until the hydrant was turned off, and then we all walked back home. Philip had a flight chiefs' meeting to attend later in the afternoon, but he called in and asked if he could skip it this week and was told, "No problem." When we learned that we'd all get to spend the afternoon together uninterrupted, we tried to decide what we'd like to do.
We talked for a good while about setting up the waterslide, but in the end, we decided to head back out to the pool for more fun. We waited until a little later in the day to leave, and Philip and the boys played X-Box while I played online. Once we were all in our swimsuits and ready to leave, we loaded up into the car.
We arrived at the pool quickly (we'd gotten lost trying to find the place the day before, having never been there and not been given directions), but we found it was closing for an hour for swim lessons and dinner breaks. We didn't feel like grabbing any fast food, so we drove to a local grocery store and picked up some things. We chose 1/2 a large deli hoagie for us to all share, a bag of chips, chocolate milk for me and the boys and a soda for Philip. We drove back to a large playground we'd seen, and we spread our towels on the grass under a tree and had a picnic dinner together in the shade. We played music from the car while we ate, and it was a really nice time. We even fed the purple onions to the ants. ;-)
Finally it was time to head back to the pool, and we swam there until it was closed for the evening. The waterslides were shut down yesterday, but we'd taken life jackets for the boys, and they were each able to go off the diving board in the deep, deep end. I've got to say, the boys have no fear - especially Jack. Rather than being cautious and scared walking out onto the board for the very first time, he RAN down the board and jumped right off. They did a few cannonballs off the board as well. A.J. tired of the board more quickly than Jack, wanting to go swim in the regular sections of the pool, but Jack just kept going. After watching several of the older guys do fancy flips and dives off the board, Jack started imitating them by jumping/bouncing on the end of the board a few times before launching into the water. I *so* wished I'd brought my camera last night!
Philip and I both went off the diving board a few times as well, and then we finally made Jack stop so we could all swim together. Since the slides were shut down, we played together as a whole family in the shallower sections, chasing one another and having lots of water-tickle fights. It was a good time, and we'd even gotten in for less - only $6.25 last night for all of us (though we don't know why, since it had been $12.50 the night before).
We came home and stayed outside until we'd dried off a bit more. Philip dipped ice cream cones for everyone - vanilla ice cream on Oreo® chocolate cones - and they were so yummy! (I dripped some on my shirt in my last couple of bites.) I weeded the garden, and Philip and the boys used the hose to drown out the ground squirrels from their hole-y homes. They were excited to get three drowned squirrels out of one hole, and they played with the poor, waterlogged creatures for the next fifteen minutes or so (I took pictures!). Though I'd like to kill the critters for eating my tomatoes, we just set them free several yards away from our own.
The boys hopped in the tub, and then it was bedtime. Philip used the movie gift certificates we'd given him for Father's Day to see the late showing of Cars at the theater, and he got out after midnight. He picked up some bananas and strawberries for me on the way home, as I needed to make a fruit salad to take the lake today. We went to bed shortly after he came home, and I slept SO HARD.
It was a really great day, and everything was pretty much spur-of-the-moment (well, except for the dentist appointment, of course). I think we all need more days like that. :-)
I had showered the evening before, and I tumbled out of bed earlier than usual to make it to a 9am dentist appointment for myself. The dental technician and I had lovely conversation, and a typical 30-minute check-up turned into over and hour and a half, but it was so nice.
When I arrived home at almost 11am, I woke up Philip for the day. The boys had been happily playing in the living room, and I got them dressed and had them clean up their toys. We all headed out for a yummy and slow-paced lunch at La Mesa, our favorite Mexican restaurant. Afterwards, we went to Wal*Mart to find Philip some shorts for the summer (we'd donated his old ones to the church a few months ago for their garage sale). He picked out some jean shorts (without trying them on!), and then we meandered around in the toy aisles for a good while. We ended up snagging a few more DVDs for our collection, and then we came on home.
We quickly got the boys changed into their swim trunks, and then we all walked down the block to the Fire Hydrant Party. The boys played until the hydrant was turned off, and then we all walked back home. Philip had a flight chiefs' meeting to attend later in the afternoon, but he called in and asked if he could skip it this week and was told, "No problem." When we learned that we'd all get to spend the afternoon together uninterrupted, we tried to decide what we'd like to do.
We talked for a good while about setting up the waterslide, but in the end, we decided to head back out to the pool for more fun. We waited until a little later in the day to leave, and Philip and the boys played X-Box while I played online. Once we were all in our swimsuits and ready to leave, we loaded up into the car.
We arrived at the pool quickly (we'd gotten lost trying to find the place the day before, having never been there and not been given directions), but we found it was closing for an hour for swim lessons and dinner breaks. We didn't feel like grabbing any fast food, so we drove to a local grocery store and picked up some things. We chose 1/2 a large deli hoagie for us to all share, a bag of chips, chocolate milk for me and the boys and a soda for Philip. We drove back to a large playground we'd seen, and we spread our towels on the grass under a tree and had a picnic dinner together in the shade. We played music from the car while we ate, and it was a really nice time. We even fed the purple onions to the ants. ;-)
Finally it was time to head back to the pool, and we swam there until it was closed for the evening. The waterslides were shut down yesterday, but we'd taken life jackets for the boys, and they were each able to go off the diving board in the deep, deep end. I've got to say, the boys have no fear - especially Jack. Rather than being cautious and scared walking out onto the board for the very first time, he RAN down the board and jumped right off. They did a few cannonballs off the board as well. A.J. tired of the board more quickly than Jack, wanting to go swim in the regular sections of the pool, but Jack just kept going. After watching several of the older guys do fancy flips and dives off the board, Jack started imitating them by jumping/bouncing on the end of the board a few times before launching into the water. I *so* wished I'd brought my camera last night!
Philip and I both went off the diving board a few times as well, and then we finally made Jack stop so we could all swim together. Since the slides were shut down, we played together as a whole family in the shallower sections, chasing one another and having lots of water-tickle fights. It was a good time, and we'd even gotten in for less - only $6.25 last night for all of us (though we don't know why, since it had been $12.50 the night before).
We came home and stayed outside until we'd dried off a bit more. Philip dipped ice cream cones for everyone - vanilla ice cream on Oreo® chocolate cones - and they were so yummy! (I dripped some on my shirt in my last couple of bites.) I weeded the garden, and Philip and the boys used the hose to drown out the ground squirrels from their hole-y homes. They were excited to get three drowned squirrels out of one hole, and they played with the poor, waterlogged creatures for the next fifteen minutes or so (I took pictures!). Though I'd like to kill the critters for eating my tomatoes, we just set them free several yards away from our own.
The boys hopped in the tub, and then it was bedtime. Philip used the movie gift certificates we'd given him for Father's Day to see the late showing of Cars at the theater, and he got out after midnight. He picked up some bananas and strawberries for me on the way home, as I needed to make a fruit salad to take the lake today. We went to bed shortly after he came home, and I slept SO HARD.
It was a really great day, and everything was pretty much spur-of-the-moment (well, except for the dentist appointment, of course). I think we all need more days like that. :-)
