Sunday, September 08, 2002
Dale: We celebrated Maddie's birthday yesterday. My mom and dad came down early as did Heather's mom, and were, as always, Godsends in helping us get organized and ready. Our backyard is, due to southeast Michigan's drought conditions, dead. Only the hardier breeds of crabgrass and other weeds are surviving, and they aren't exactly thriving. Strangely enough, the front and side yards aren't doing so badly. Another pleasant feature of our backyard is that we own The World's Stupidest Dog (TM), whose two talents appear to be (1) barking at invisible evil, and (2) leaving poop mines in the backyard.
Guess who got to go a-collectin' in the desert backyard yesterday? Mom and Dad arrived as I was in the middle of the Poop Patrol, and Mom jokingly referred to it as a substitute for an Easter egg hunt. Well, I won...
Dad drove off to the dollar store, and picked up two sprinklers to help cure the dead yard. After two days of evening soaks, it seems to be helping a little. The moms helped put up the Veggie Tales streamers on the chain link fence, and put the balloons up, too.
It got much hotter than I expected, and most of our guests (close friends and family) decided to camp out inside with the AC. While crowded, it wasn't so bad. I also had the honor of grilling, which, frankly, I love. I figured that since we were feeding over a dozen people, I'd better have a serious bed of coals ready. I sure did. Along with a thorough soaking from the lighter fluid. Apply lit match...
FOOOMPH!
"Now that's a fire!" Some singed hair, but that was pretty much the only injury. The real injury was to the first batch of brats, burgers and hot dogs: Coal black in a matter of moments. Memo to file: sometimes less is more, especially with charcoal briquets. The food cooked better after the first serving: slower, more fun, and tastier.
Maddie seemed to have a very good time, especially playing with her cousins. She spent a little time in the wading pool, and less eating: too many interesting people to interact with. She passed on our efforts to feed her her cake, and was only briefly interested in the presents, most of which make noise. I've put several people on notice that they can expect drums and chemistry sets for their kids in the future. Actually, they were all very nice, and involve classical music or spelling. But I think the thing Maddie liked best were her two helium mylar balloons, both decorated with teddy bears that say "It's the Big 1!" She's still grabbing the strings and dragging them around with her wherever she goes.
Yes, she's walking a lot more now. Heather and I have a game where we sit or crouch on the floor, and one of us puts Maddie facing the other, who coaxes her to walk over. She takes a few steps, and we cheer and applaud wildly after she makes it over, the receiving parent hugging her. She grins or laughs, and we turn her around to do the same for the other. She loves it, but she gets to the point where she knows she won't fall to the floor, so she takes a half step and dives forward. We still cheer and hug.
Guess who got to go a-collectin' in the desert backyard yesterday? Mom and Dad arrived as I was in the middle of the Poop Patrol, and Mom jokingly referred to it as a substitute for an Easter egg hunt. Well, I won...
Dad drove off to the dollar store, and picked up two sprinklers to help cure the dead yard. After two days of evening soaks, it seems to be helping a little. The moms helped put up the Veggie Tales streamers on the chain link fence, and put the balloons up, too.
It got much hotter than I expected, and most of our guests (close friends and family) decided to camp out inside with the AC. While crowded, it wasn't so bad. I also had the honor of grilling, which, frankly, I love. I figured that since we were feeding over a dozen people, I'd better have a serious bed of coals ready. I sure did. Along with a thorough soaking from the lighter fluid. Apply lit match...
FOOOMPH!
"Now that's a fire!" Some singed hair, but that was pretty much the only injury. The real injury was to the first batch of brats, burgers and hot dogs: Coal black in a matter of moments. Memo to file: sometimes less is more, especially with charcoal briquets. The food cooked better after the first serving: slower, more fun, and tastier.
Maddie seemed to have a very good time, especially playing with her cousins. She spent a little time in the wading pool, and less eating: too many interesting people to interact with. She passed on our efforts to feed her her cake, and was only briefly interested in the presents, most of which make noise. I've put several people on notice that they can expect drums and chemistry sets for their kids in the future. Actually, they were all very nice, and involve classical music or spelling. But I think the thing Maddie liked best were her two helium mylar balloons, both decorated with teddy bears that say "It's the Big 1!" She's still grabbing the strings and dragging them around with her wherever she goes.
Yes, she's walking a lot more now. Heather and I have a game where we sit or crouch on the floor, and one of us puts Maddie facing the other, who coaxes her to walk over. She takes a few steps, and we cheer and applaud wildly after she makes it over, the receiving parent hugging her. She grins or laughs, and we turn her around to do the same for the other. She loves it, but she gets to the point where she knows she won't fall to the floor, so she takes a half step and dives forward. We still cheer and hug.
