HHE did not arrive on Thursday. Car did not arrive on Thursday. Friday my mom came down and Ian took the day off work, both to help unpack boxes and register a car we didn't have. So, we went to Home Depot and to Dolphin Beach instead. Works for me. It's what we could do to salvage some of the lost/wasted time, and the kids really needed some fresh air and exercise after a lazy week at home. Next week is full day camp for all of them and the TV will get a break.
Saturday was about as great as I could wish. For the most part the kids didn't bicker too much, but I don't think it would have cast much of a pall anyway.
This is going to sound strange, but I think this tour may place a slightly higher strain on our family and marriage than the others. There are so many pros to living here, basically it boils down to the ease of it all, but what we also have is a dad/husband who is gone by 6:15 a.m. and gets home by 7 p.m. With the kids getting to bed late during summer break and Ian hitting the hay by 10, we don't have any time just the of us during the week. I miss home leave quite a bit right now, though I know it'll get better once the kids are in school, are going to bed at a normal time, and we've all had some time to adjust.
So we're making the most of our weekends. Ian came with me to yard sales. Yes, he was that desperate to spend some time together, but I think if he was truly honest he'd say he had fun. I had a blast. We came home with a pair of blue barstools for the kitchen island, some Wii and DS games for Christmas and a couple Harry Potter puzzles for the meantime. We met a guy who just returned from 6 months in Iraq and is back with his wife and 3 little kids. Another family was a couple streets down from us and so pitied our HHE delay they gave us Mindtrap to play. We chatted with folks, drove down streets we hadn't seen before, and came back with some nifty stuff. Yeah, he had fun too. We grabbed the kids (when we left boys weren't interested, girls were sleeping) and trekked to Potomac Mills. It's a zoo on Saturdays, sometimes we forget that, yesterday was one of those days. S&K Menswear is going out of business so Ian bought 2 new suits for cheap and since they are selling everything in the store, I picked up 20 clip hangers for $2. The furnishings were on the block too, but there was no way for us to get them home, and all the mannequins had already been claimed. Would have looked cool in the girls' room for their scarves and hats.
Katherine had Class 1 of her two day volleyball clinic at the fitness center so we dropped her off and went to Best Buy, One of the most fun games we've bought recently is Wii Sports Resort. It's been a blast rowing and throwing frisbees and chopping things with swords, a great time this hot week in August. We highly recommend it. Best Buy sold nerf type swords to hold Wiimotes for the swordplay games, but Ian said No. Something about not wanting to encourage the kids to swing things at the TV. Jonathon and I examined the way cool fridges and washer/dryer sets while the others bought him a birthday gift. I don't know what it is, but if it's from Best Buy, should be good. Katherine is at Class 2 of her volleyball clinic now, and the rest of the fam are playing Resort again. I tell you, if you have a Wii but don't have this game already, you should.
A quick run through Costco to get snack/lunch foods for daycamp next week and we were picking up Katherine and driving to my parents' house for an early birthday party for Jonathon. He turns 8 on Tuesday and was tickled with his coin bank and new YuGiOh cards. Some cool weather clothes rounded things out. He'll get his other gifts on Tuesday, along with a trip to Chuck E Cheese. See, some things really are more painful Stateside.
The boys crashed in the car and the girls put themselves to bed at 9:30, so Ian and I popped in a movie. "Panic Room" - pass. We made it through about 10 minutes and decided it was too convoluted. Popped in "Into the Wild" - pass. Once we figured out the movie was -serious- and was going to be -deep- and -thought-provoking-, flashback filled and supposedly true about some rich kid who gives it all up to live in the tundra... we put in episode 1 of True Blood instead. And then episode 2. True to form, HBO has a violent, nudity-filled show peppered with curse words that is fascinating. I know that True Blood fans are saying "Where's she been? Under a rock?" Well, duh. But hey, I'll make a decision on the Bill/Edward debate at the end of the season, 'kay?
Tonight we're going to see "District 9" while the kids watch "Bandslam." They start right around the same time and are the same length, so it's all good.
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