Today was one of those days that I hope stays firmly lodged in my children's memories. It was spent in places we love, with people we love, there was abundant laughter and sunshine and we enjoyed it all.
We slept in and then joined Ace's classmates for a party at his friends house. Julia and Lucy and I invited ourselves to stay and enjoy the celebration. The kids ran through the sprinkler, slipped and slid on the slip and slide, enjoyed a delicious spread of food, and then walked down to the beach for more fun. We came home just in time to met Hayley coming home from school and our neighbor babysat while I grocery shopped (alone!). We fixed a picnic and spent the evening on the beach where nobody fought, nobody ignored me when I told them to stay only ankle deep in the water, and nobody complained about being bored. It was near perfect. The one not perfect moment was when a seagull dive bombed down on Lucy trying to steal her cheese puff. She flipped out for a minute or two and sat on my lap. I told her just to shoo that mean old seagull away and she took it one step further. She chased him down yelling "No Duck!" and got close enough to throw a bucket at him. I'm not condoning throwing buckets at seagulls but I have to say, that stinker was asking for it. Lesson: Don't mess with The Wooz.
We came home and every scrubbed off the sand and salt and everyone was about to crash out on the couch when our neighbor stopped by to show off his fireflies. We talked for a while and the kids marveled over the fireflies and within minutes of saying goodbye, all the kids were tucked in and exhausted.
I hope they remember these days because I know that I always will.