The Birthday Week

Henry, with a rusty, vintage Tonka toy

It's been a busy and fun week with family here, although Henry isn't able to be in our house because he has a severe allergy to peanuts. I'm sure there isn't a square foot of our house that doesn't have peanut residue due to two dogs and peanut-laden dog chew toys. But the weather was beautiful and we sat around outdoors, playing Password and watching Henry play with toys, throw pebbles, and make dirt angels in the driveway.

Gus and Angela at Bear Paw

John feeding the penguins

Dänika, Henry, and John 
Look at that wild hair!

I seem to have a knack for stretching out a birthday week. One day we all drove into the Twin Cities to eat at Chipotle (Why don't they have one of these in Rice Lake??). There's nothing like the ambience of Brit's Pub in Minneapolis, but I feel a lot better after eating at Chipotle.  Of course we had to go to Half Price Books, Whole Foods, and Trader Joes. Now that Borders is closed, I occasionally get my copy of BBC History Magazine on E-bay, but the rest of it is sort of becoming a birthday tradition.

Little Henry is a good traveler. When he gets tired, he simply starts asking, 'Done? Done?'

And then there was morning sitting beside the garden pond, an afternoon visiting the local farmers' market, an evening around the campfire, an afternoon watching 'Have His Carcase,' an old Lord Peter movie, John catching Bluegills and roasting them for dinner, the young'uns playing games at the table, etc. etc. The last couple days Gus's mom and brother were here (and brought me dark chocolate from Seroogy's!!), then today Joe and Courtney and Rob came over for games and dinner. And I just realized that I haven't taken any photos since Thursday.

 I really wish this little guy lived closer to his grandma and grandpa

We get the other three grandsons the last week of August while their mom and dad and sisters are at the RNC in Tampa (our son's a delegate!) - and I can't wait!  Well, I'll probably try to get a few good nights' sleep in first. After all, I am a year older now.

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If You Go Down in the Woods Today...

'I think we're going on vacation.'

There's nothing like a few episodes of 'Hoarders' to motivate one to clean out the closets!  I made a rule, that if I haven't used it within the year, it was going out. Well, of course that didn't last long, but I did make substantial headway. I took boxes and bags full of items to the Goodwill. Next came the stuffed animals. I had lots of them. Why? I don't know. I guess because they all showed up on my doorstep and I couldn't turn them away. Okay, maybe not. I'm not sure how things like that accumulate, but it was time to clean out. And rather than throwing them out, I donated them. That means that someone else will get to enjoy those cute and sweet bears. I hauled them out to the truck. Then I went back into the house to get another load.

By the time I returned, my husband had lined these guys up at the back of the truck and said in his most plaintive (and annoying) little animal voice, 'I think we're going on vacation.'  

I HATE IT when he does that. He's undermining my resolve to clean out this house! But that wasn't all. He continued. 'Mom? Is that you? It's dark in here, Mom. Where are we, Mom? Mom? Mom?...'

Now of course he's saying this for the benefit of a woman who can't stand to see a doll face down on a bed because it can't breathe. I felt terrible. I felt like I was sending my stuffed animals to the animal shelter, for Pete's sake!

And of course, he just kept it up, ad nauseam...

I really hope Goodwill is a no-kill shelter and that all the stuffed animals will find happy little boys and girls who will love them and make sure they're never face down on the bed.

 'Mom? Where're we going, Mom?'

***

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