Logan, Wilson and I loaded our bikes into the van and headed for the Coeur d'Alene City Park.  Logan was excited to recognize the place, "We haven't been here in a long time!"  Early enough in the year that we were able to find a free parking spot along the curb, but the park was already well populated.  Certainly not the solitary experience of our early visits last spring.

We rode the bike trail around the park, along the beach, over the footbridges at the artificial creek.  Wilson, with his itty-bitty wheels, was pedaling like mad, not paying a particular lot of attention to the path.  I apologized to several people as I followed him, grateful that all of them were sympathetic to the uninhibited enthusiasm of a Small Boy.  We would have walked the boardwalk, but there were no bike racks anywhere near, and I didn't think the Resort would like to have a heap of shabby bikes seemingly abandoned near their swanky parking lot.

Played a while at the Fort Sherman playground.  An odd experience for me: my boys are big enough to run around more or less unattended.  No one needs me to help them up the rope ladders, or to catch them at the bottom of the fire pole, or to push them on the swings.  On the bright side, it leaves me free to play with them one at a time.

The Breakfast Table - pencil on paper by Wilson:

Mothers Day card from Myra Jayne:

"But who needs these OBVIOUS poems?
Not you!  (How about one of my own?)

Cooking can be fun sometimes, but not for you.
You have better things to do.
Like doing laundry, sharpening knife blades,
Or putting on Wilson's little Band-Aids.
I think cooking is super fun
So here's a coupon...

Pull out:  I will cook all the meals for you all day.

What a sweetheart. 

Thursday, May 5:  Molley brought her little brother, Luke.  They all tromped up the hill to see The Woods before returning for lunch and Art.  Talking about Cinco de Mayo, wondering why we celebrate it, surprised to discover it's NOT widely celebrated in Mexico.  Interesting.

Bri's Week.  She and I went to see Hoodwinked Too -- in 3D.  (I was so tired, I actually dozed off near the end.)  As we were exiting the theater, we saw Andy Tenney, Mark Sales, and Jason Lowe standing in line for the midnight showing of Thor.  While local merchants / cashiers are regular familiar faces, it's still a novel thing to meet actual friends in random places here.  It's nice.

Friday:  I went to a local upholsterer and got custom-cut foam for the boys' new mattresses.  Still tired, but went to Mosquedas' for dinner.

Saturday:  Yummy potatoes obrien and eggs for breakfast.  Mmm.  X-men.  Kaiden's soccer game.  Moriah's soccer game.  Rained out.  Cops.  Dead car battery.

Inspired by the Murphys / Dotys, we have formed our own literature and poetry society.  Had our first recital this afternoon with the Richies, Goodmans, Hoisingtons, Mosquedas.

Myra:  "The Arrow and the Song" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Myra:  "Arrows" by Shel Silverstein
Kendric:  "Roses are red, violets are blue, most poems rhyme but this one don't."  (Author Unknown)
Logan:  "Lazy Jane" by Shel Silverstein
Mari:  "The Farmer and the Queen" by Shel Silverstein
Bri:  "True Story" by Shel Silverstein

Notice a trend here?  Yes, it was mostly short, lighthearted stuff for our first round.  Mostly, I wanted to make them familiar with the concept of reciting before a crowd.  I needn't have worried -- they're natural performers. 

Spring Cleaning, Take Two.  Kendric, Wilson and I deep cleaned every closet, every shelf, every room -- 'til we made it to the Play Room downstairs.  We might have finished even that, but we were interrupted by a phone call.  It was Joi, inviting us to come along for ice cream.  It's been a chilly day; we certainly weren't craving a cold treat, but we did welcome the diversion.

The Coeur d'Alene Fire Department was holding some sort of PR event in the parking lot of Baskin Robins.  Baskin Robins commemorated the event with 31 cent scoops of ice cream.  Kendric stepped out of line to ask for a tour of the fire truck...  Wilson was excited about the fireman hats -- until he got one; he didn't actually want to wear one.  Wilson, bless his heart, only wanted plain, smooth chocolate ice cream.  Kendric got two scoops, wild and crazy fruity sherbets.  I got some coconut / nut flavor.  It was delicious.

I spotted glacier lilies on the way home.  Several seconds passed before it registered they were glacier lilies, and it's that time of year, and these are the first I've seen.  A twinge of sorry that I was spotting them from the freeway instead of in person, but Sorry Sadness be gone!  I can see glacier lilies!  In Real Life!  I am grateful.

Thursday:  Molley came over.

Friday:  Alfredo and Mari came over.

Saturday:  Kirby and Alfredo went north to construct a greenhouse.  Cream puffs for breakfast.  Molley came to decorate eggs with the girls.  Jimmy Roads came and took the rest of the soil.  Mari and Bri watched the kids while Mary, Alfredo, Kirby and I went to Olive Garden for supper.  Charlie threw up.  Huertas left for home.  Kids convinced me to leave for Betty's tonight.  Hit a deer.  Skunk under Betty's shed then porch then bay window.

Sunday:  Shower.  French Toast casserole.  Surprise Nicole.  Surprise Ben.  School playground.  Myra's rollerblade crash.  Surprise Cory, Rikke and Grandma Nancy.  Surprise Grandpa Rick.  Ham dinner.  Pictures of Cory Rikke and Berkley.  Puzzle with Ben.  Kendric and Wilson went home with Gramma Nancy.

Monday:  Dad came down to fix my turn signal.  Girls and Logan went home with Grandma and Grandpa.  Kendric and Wilson played Wii while I packed while Gramma was at work.  Had grilled cheese and tomato soup ready when Gramma got home.  Drove home.  Tired.

Cream puffs in the oven.  (Flour added in One Fell Swoop, but beating all those eggs with a wooden spoon works the wrist and forearm.  Whew!)

Tuesday:  Many hands make light work.  Mari and I stapled the hardware cloth (varmint guard) to the bottom of each bed, Bri measured and cut the landscaping cloth lining each row (no mowing between beds), and we all shoveled.  The garden was finished by dinnertime -- and we've got loads of good dirt left over.  *happy sigh*

Wednesday:  Wilson's week.  I brought him to town for a day of Life as it Might Be as an Only Child.  He played with a fellow five-year-old in the play room at Burger King.  Surprised me by his gentle interaction.  No brothers to race, no sisters to dodge, he simply chatted with the little red-head girl, and showed her all his tricks.  ("Look, I can hang upside down."  "Watch, you can turn while you go down the slide.")  *happy sigh*  We went to the mall, played on the 'train', watched the Pretzelmaker (ha!) make pretzels...  Our last stop was Costco; we spent nearly an hour watching the meat department guy package burger, and counted the chickens as the rotisseries were unloaded and reloaded.

Thursday:  Art with Molley.  Among other things, she mentioned a challenge to legibly write The Lord's Prayer in a circle the size of a nickel.  She said she could fit it in the size of a dime.  Of course I had to try.  I wasn't excited about my penmanship, but I did it.  (Note: Molley was brought up as a traditionalist Roman Catholic.  Her specifications didn't include the last bit, "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever," -- which would easily add another round of text.)

I've never been so excited about dirt in my life.

Northland Nursery just delivered about 4 cu. yards of compost.  The driver was wonderful; I gave him permission to plow right through whatever tree branches might be in the way; he made it through the gate and past the fruit trees without brushing so much as a stray twig.  Wow.

We have a lot of shoveling to do.