The entry below was supposed to be titled “vacation” and not “vaction”. D’oh. But if you read me often (and I know you do) I guess you’ve come to expect those sorts of things.

Now the heat is gone, but we have rain instead. We’re supposed to have fireworks tonight, dag-nabbit!

I’ve hunted around, but haven’t come up with any cool links for ya. Got errands to run too! In the rain!

Last night we went all over town dropping kids off, then went to Ron’s co-workers house to chop down a tree. Ron is the man with the saw. When calling to arrange this, we were also invited for supper, which was fine by me! But my goodness it was hot! I think we all sat around for at least an hour just yakking and saying how hot it was. Eventually, we got to eating. They have four kids, one boy 3 girls, just like us, except most of theirs are between the ages of Meaghan and Emma. Meaghan and Emma were the only kids of ours we had with us anyway.
Addison was off at his usual Friday night Magic Gathering thingy, and Sarah was in the same neighbourhood as we were visiting. Except she babysat for Lisa. It was her first offical babysitting job, and I think she did all right. As she said later, “I got to play with a little kid, have ice cream, and swim in a pool. AND I got PAID!”
Back to the story. The men had some trouble initially with the chain saw, and we noticed that almost all the neighbours had gathered on their porches to watch the spectacle. And I’m sure to see if the tree was going to fall on the house or not. The roots were coming up all over the lawn, which is also where the septic bed is. Not good!
The mom and I high-tailed it to the backyard, where the kids were running through the sprinkler, and where we didn’t have to watch. We’re all about responding to emergencies *after* they happen.
Eventually, in the midst of our never-ending stream of good conversation, we saw the shadow of the tree fall, and heard the neighburhood boys all go “OOOooohhh!”
All these 10 year old boys standing around watching came in handy when Ron limbed the tree. They marched passed us countless times, dragging branches, and small logs made from the branches, into the woods behind the backyard.
After the yard (and the street) was mostly cleaned up, the branches all taken care of, and Ron was out of gas, it was time to head home. Even with a lot of warning Emma still cried and cried when we left. She cried halfway home too, and she cried when she thought we left her shorts behind.
She had been running aroudn the yard, driveway, and even the street on one occasion, in her short & diaper only. Oh such fun! There were kids everywhere. Ours, their, even some she only barely recognized.
So yeah, we have to go back soon. And often.