Slacking

Actually, it has been a pretty busy summer. But I always say that.

We went to go visit my parents over July 4th weekend, and my brother Ez and niece Chloe were also there. We haven't gotten to see Chloe very much lately -- Ez and his wife are separated and they are going through a custody dispute, so it was nice to have the opportunity to see her again.

Since I don't get to see her very much, I write her postcards, and it occurred to me that she might like to be able to write to her father, cousins, grandparents, or even Adam and me, just to keep in touch. I bought her a book of postcards, postcard stamps, and a small address book so she had the flexibility of being able to write to friends or relatives whenever she wanted.

On Friday, Gwen received a postcard from Chloe, and I include the text of it here because I found it endearing:

Dear Gwen,

how are you? I am doing fine. How are your hermen crabs? How old are the hermen crabs. I Really miss you! What did you eat for supper? Happy fourth of July! I Say That beacase I Am Going home for fourth of July

Love Chloe

She also wrote "Go Gwen Go b***** famly" on the front of the card. It was very sweet, and a little bittersweet, since we don't know when the cousins will see each other again. We hope it is soon, Chloe!


We got to see the other cousins this weekend (the ones on Adam's side of the family.) It was great to see Riley and Piper again. Riley really took to the piano, by which I don't mean he is a prodigy, but that he LOVED to play with it. Our piano is an electric piano, so he played one of the demo tunes with adventure sounds (like sirens, etc., to show off the special effects capability of the piano) over and over again -- I began to feel like we were experiencing a major crime wave!) He also liked using the thunderclap effects to play the bum-bum-BUM percussion of the "Go Bulls" theme that he'd heard at Durham Bulls ballgames (for those who don't know this theme, it sounds just like Queen's "We Will Rock You" that seems to be the hallmark of all sporting events.) It was cute and funny, but after awhile that bum-bum-BUM seemed to be pulsing through my head -- a little too repetitive, if you know what I mean.

This morning, Riley was up before everyone else, but his parents put the kibosh on piano playing until after breakfast. Riley finished his breakfast in record time (to be honest, I'm not sure he really ate more than a bite or two), and he approached the adult table and said, kind of like a maitre de at a fancy restaurant, "May I impress you as you eat your breakfast?"

His father replied with a laugh, "I'm not sure I think you rate 'impressive' just yet, but let's wait until everyone else is done eating."