Georgia had gone to be with Jackie, and I had agreed to take all three kids while Christi went to Denver for her L.P.N. test.

By the time we got done with showers last night I was crapped out. Having all three of them here at once is hugely fun but exhausting. I asked them to put the hammock together, and watching them took 3x as long as if I’d just done it, but it was intriguing to sit back and let them puzzle it out. And they discovered that the multilevel solar fountain is the perfect device for launching leaf boats and watching them go over the tiny waterfall to the next level down. And then take the leaf, put it in the top bowl and start again. And again. And again.

They even coped with the indescribable trauma of discovering that I had sneaked some sliced black olives on one of the pizzas. (Copious tears over black olives? Good grief!) The only bad experience was trying to watch the Johnny Depp version of Alice in Wonderland on Netflix, which was too scary for Emily and Josh; I was in the other room taking a break and when I went back into the living room discovered them both cowering behind the couch covering their eyes.

They recovered quickly, though, because nobody woke me up during the night to report a bad dream. Today, we’re going to explore the mechanics of a water balloon war, Georgia made an appointment with her beautician to have Emily’s hair shaped (whatever that means), and I’m going to take Terry’s minivan in for an oil change (the oil is down to 5% and that makes me nervous), and we’re going to exchange Katy’s chapter books at the library. Friday we’ll probably go to the Rifle Falls for a picnic and a hike along the Squirrel Trail to the swinging bridge, and then explore the new walk-in water fountain at Centennial Park and then go to the Farmers’ Market. There just isn’t enough time in the day <g>.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Christi today; I’m sure she’ll do just fine; and I also hope that Jackie and Mom (and Jack) have a good time, too. I still have a few minutes before I hear the patter of the first little feet, so I think I’ll go read the paper.