I was setting up to reorganize the first aid supplies when Cyndi phoned and asked if they could stop by.  Hmm...  Sort bandages or play?  Hmm...

We spent the afternoon in the shade of the front yard.  Myra filled the kiddie pool, but the water didn't stay there for long:

The kids asked for organized games, so I gave them an obstacle course relay race.  The starter would cross the street -- yielding to possible traffic -- and touch the electric meter, return and make two complete turns around the crab apple tree, sit in the kiddie pool, and run to tag the second runner waiting at the electric pole.  The second runner would make three circles around the flower bed, then hunt down a kitten and place it in the playhouse bucket.  Once the kitten was successfully lifted to the playhouse window, the anchor would remove the kitten from the bucket, carry the kitten down the playhouse steps and place the kitten on the ground, find a basketball and make three baskets in the basketball hoop, return to the front yard, do five jumping jacks, one cartwheel, then tag my hand.  Thanks to Sam's stopwatch, we were able to avoid any jostling and tripping.  : )  Sam, Myra and Mari: 2:31.4.  Melody, Jarom and Bri beat them by a good ten seconds.

I made some trail mix (sunflower seeds, raisins, chocolate chips, granola) and sliced some apples for snacks.  The kids sprawled out on towels, soaking up the sun and telling jokes.

Cyndi went home, bringing Myra and Logan, leaving Jarom and Sam.

Hot dogs for dinner, then goodbyes.  Still need to take care of those Band-Aids...

When Kirby left for work this morning, I wandered upstairs to enjoy a few quiet minutes of sunrise, then settled down on the couch to read.  I heard Puma and her kittens scampering about, but didn't look up from my book until I heard the start-up beeping sounds of the Roomba.  "Ha," I thought, "the kittens are vacuuming!"

Then I saw the feathers.  Apparently Puma snagged a bit of breakfast for her brood -- some early bird that was too busy getting the proverbial worm to see her coming.  Nothing left of him but an explosion of feathers.  Well... at least they're cleaning up after.

Jimmy and Fran have granddaughters visiting from Oregon; Fran asked if we would join them for a play day at the park.  Fran gave me directions to a park in Coeur d'Alene, just past the high school on Dalton Ave.  Well, there are TWO high schools on Dalton Ave, and (good ol' Murphy's Law) I drove toward the wrong one.  Grateful for cell phones again, it didn't take long to find them once we were aimed in the right direction.

Mindy's mom, Tamra, brought Jonah, Chloee, Adriane and Evanee.  Between the splash pond and the playground, we had kids all over the place.  Both Logan and Wilson played nicely within eyeshot, so I was able to enjoy leisurely conversation with Tamra and Fran.

Molley was here for Art, with Raife and Luke...  Sam rode his bike over...  Kirby, home from work, brought Logan and Wilson to the store, and phoned to say he'd invited a new family over for dinner.  Dan and Shelly Powers.

Summer's just begin, and I'm already beginning to melt.  For the record, I was not one of the people complaining about the lack of sunshine all spring.  Clouds are my friends.  : )

Most of the kids volunteered to go to Boulder Beach, but I can only take two of them at a time.  We aimed for the Lake instead.  Apparently I forgot all my notes from last year about avoiding Cd'A for a week in both directions of the Ironman.  The precious few Free Parking spaces were not only occupied, but surrounded by cars idling in the right lane, stalking for potential departures.  I unloaded the kids near the beach, then drove around town looking for a place to leave the van.  Just when I thought I'd have to bring the van into the lake with us, I found an empty space.  Bonus: Within walking distance of the park, and big enough to comfortably ease a full size van into place.

The van was taken care of, but the moment I stepped off the crosswalk, I was ready to turn around and head for home.  Crowds of people.  Half of them jogging along with one eye on their heart monitor / pedometer equipment, the other half barely dressed.  To say they were 'scantily clad' would be giving their clothes way too much credit.  What is it about crowds that make people lose all inhibition?  Are they trying to stand out? or just counting on serious anonymity?

The kids were waiting at their favorite part of the park: the steps, near the artificial creek.  Logan and Wilson challenged each other to go down to "The Seventh Step", where the water is chest deep for them.

As Bri's been sick, we're reading the Zion Covenant.  Vienna Prelude down, five to go.

The sweetest birthday greeting ever:
My kids hid themselves under the smoothed covers of my bed. Bri, who's been sick, resting in my bed, called me to my room as if she needed help. When I walked in, the others pulled down the blanket and sat up, "Happy birthday, Mommy!"

Bri is still sick.  It's been one week, and the fever is finally gone, but she's got a cough.  On the bright side, we've finished an entire book.  : )

Myra finally got her perm.  (The perm was my birthday gift to Myra.) We were all a little disappointed in the curls, but I guess I never actually TOLD the stylist that she wanted tight curls.  I guess I assumed that when I told her we'd been doing rag curls, and Myra wanted them to stay even after she showered, she would Get It.  Instead, she did what I assume is a "spiral wave", which means "bumpy hair."  Or "barely curly."  The waves are uniform and plump, they just fall short of Myra's expectations.

Myra's 11th birthday.  We visited the Dirk and Trisha Wiggers