date night

Every now and then we have a night that isn't all about homework and bubble baths. This week, we had a night that was all about margaritas and street tacos....mmmm.

We went over to The Newlywed's house, because really, they have forever to be alone together and would much rather drink with us, I think.

Rachel, with slight instruction from Dylan (I believe he told her "figure it out") made her first ever batch of margaritas. And she did awesome! Plus she got to use her new over size margarita glasses - it's inconvenient to refill so often ;)

And they were delicious! She did a darn good job!

It was really fun to just hang out with them and help cook in the kitchen. We got all caught up and swapped funny stories from the wedding and last couple weeks of their wedded bliss. 

Aiden came over too, but as soon as Nemo was on TV he wanted nothing to do with us noisy adults. At dinner time though, with all the extra attention of everyone sitting at the table, he of course, had to ham it up a bit.

He even helped Rachel open one of her wedding gifts that came in the mail - by disposing of the bubble wrap properly. 

It's so nice to have things settling down a little right now. We weren't worried about moving or vacation plans, and I didn't even think about Shakespeare (until Dylan asked what I've read...) all evening. It feels so good to just slow down and enjoy your friends sometimes. Especially when you get to have grown up talk - because I am becoming way to adept at Aiden Language for my own good.

Bug-A-Boo

Aiden has added a couple new phrases to his repertoire recently. Among them are...

When he gets really excited he exclaims "Ooooh Boy!"

He has also taken his manners to a new level, when unsure whether he is supposed to say please or thank you, he throws out, "Peas, Ank You, Welcome" just to make sure his bases are covered.

It is no secret that he is a chocolate milk addict, so the phrase "Gawky Mook" (that's how he says it) is probably number one in our household right now.

And my newest favorite...

Buggey-Boo!

I was told I don't share enough of my own writing...

Crib Deaths

Brittany Cormack

He slits the tape of the package

Filled with complicated curves, corners, and points

the box, cardboard

soft

He settles in

 Blind

to sit with the dark

Spaced out

 on bathroom floor tiles

fingers scan layers of branching pieces

slippery sheets

 tangled shapes

 one hundred or more

He lists the things to forget

house, hospital, library,

no picture, no package, no slippery sheets

knit, paint, sew, read, cook, clean, forget

Only a little world

 little shutters, little walls, and little doors

Perhaps an asylum

Perhaps a prison

Perhaps a factory

Hopefully a train station

There are things worse than crib death

your child

discovering drugs, disease, divorce, distraction

His head aches from the glue 

You Are Tired (I Think)

You are tired,
(I think)
Of the always puzzle of living and doing;
And so am I.

Come with me, then,
And we’ll leave it far and far away
(Only you and I, understand!)

You have played,
(I think)
And broke the toys you were fondest of,
And are a little tired now;
Tired of things that break, and
Just tired.
So am I.

But I come with a dream in my eyes tonight,
And I knock with a rose at the hopeless gate of your heart
Open to me!
For I will show you places Nobody knows,
And, if you like,
The perfect places of Sleep.

Ah, come with me!
I’ll blow you that wonderful bubble, the moon,
That floats forever and a day;
I’ll sing you the jacinth song
Of the probable stars;
I will attempt the unstartled steppes of dream,
Until I find the Only Flower,
Which shall keep (I think) your little heart
While the moon comes out of the sea.

E.E. Cummings

A couple anecdotes for your Monday

For such a low key weekend at the lake, we sure have some funny stories....

"Daisy the Pig" -- when we arrived (at nearly 11 pm) Friday night, the entire manly man community of Jackson Lake State Park was hard at work to gut, stuff, bury and cook a pig - Hawaiian Style. They dug a 4 foot grave in the dirt in front of the club house and started a fire in the bottom. While the coals were getting nice and hot, poor Daisy, as her chefs named her, was being stuffed with peppers, Italian sausage, garlic and sauerkraut (why I don't know). Then she was wired to a grate which would hold her up off the coals a bit and then she was wrapped in cheese cloth.

Because she would have to cook for 14 hours, these manly men had to bury her at midnight. So what keeps manly men cooking and digging so late into the evening you may ask??? Wiskey, that's what. They were druuuuunk.

When the pig was ready, they dumped a few inches of dirt on the coals then lowered Daisy into the pit (far less than gracefully) and thank goodness she was wired in or that piggy would have been gone! It was so funny. All the guys just had to be in on the action together. I love those manly men. They sure light up my life.

After Daisy was in the pit, they buried her completely. The idea is to create an oven for her to cook in, in the ground. The best part was, after she was finished, there was a nice 4 foot radius around her that was blocked of with caution tape that read "Caution Men Cooking" -- it was priceless.

"The Worst Diaper Ever" -- if you are squeamish, I advise you to skip ahead.

On Saturday, we spent the majority of the day playing on the beach. Once Aiden gets into the water and starts splashing around, he doesn't want to stop for anything. I usually have to threaten time-out in order to get him re-lathered in sun screen.

So around 4 o clock or so, I thought, he wasn't in bed til nearly 2 am and he's been up since 7...perhaps we should have a nap before the pig roast party. When I went to get him out of the water, his diaper was ooozing. It was so bad. I asked Steve for help and he joked, "You've got this Mommy!" but when he saw what I saw, he stepped up big time.

Instead of even taking the diaper off, we took him to the hose and literally hosed him down until the mess was manageable. I will spare the awful details but know this - a real man can handle really shitty messes....literally.

Then Aiden had to ride butt-naked back to the trailer on the golf cart where Mommy gave him another hose-bath for good measure. And, I threw away the bathing suit - no amount of cute is worth trying to salvage that puppy.

I will say this though - those water diapers really hold their shit.

"Death Raft" -- While looking for toys to play with on the beach, we found a very old life raft looking water toy. Aiden was really excited once it was inflated because it was "A BUTT!" (boat). But Steve and Erik had their doubts because they could hear it leaking. Oh well, we took it to the water anyway. Once we got to the beach with it, Aiden was trying to drag it into the water all on his own - he was on a mission to commandeer that vessel. But I told him, no lets wait for the guys....

Steve put Aiden in it and they went for a little float together. Aiden screamed bloody murder the entire time. I thought he was going to sink the raft while having his fit. He was crying for me and wanted out. So I waded out to the raft and got in with him. He climbed nearly up to the top of my head and screamed for land, "I'm done, done, done! I'm DONE!"

Lord almighty, you would have thought I was abusing my child! Once he was safely on the beach again I knew we would probably never get him in another boat for awhile....

"My Son is a Sissy???" -- Since we are laughing at Aiden's panic attack mode....while frog hunting Friday night, we found a BIG one. It was a real whopper! And when it hopped onto Aiden's foot, my oh my did he have a conniption fit.  He screamed so loud you would have thought it was me with a snake in my shirt!

Even though Aiden didn't like the frog, Kane wouldn't leave it alone. He herded it all over the boat ramp and club house patio. When he laid down, the frog even hopped over in between his front paws. It was so freaking adorable, Kane adopted the frog and it was his baby.

Aiden and Uncle Erik

While I was away...

Aiden kept his dad and his grandparents very busy at the lake. I tried to squeeze in as much time with him as I could Sunday and Monday; I really missed that little guy!

It was pretty close to bed time for the Bub by the time we were reunited but I got in lots of hugs and kisses. Not only were Aiden and I reunited, but so were Erik and Steve. He's home for a couple weeks and we plan to squeeze him in as much as possible too. After Aiden went to bed we spent some time on the deck sharing beers and listening to Erik's stories - some sad, some funny.

When we went to the beach fire, Erik was noticing that even after years and years (and miles and miles) - some things just never change. Same party, different people. I usually try to just sit back and relax at the lake, most of the time I am decently sober too, so I know exactly what he means. I just kinda watch it all come and go and smile for the memories, giggle at the drama, and squish the sand in my toes.

The 4th of July was pretty low key for us...

A funny discussion between Aiden and Papa about the water fall:

After playing around on the deck we splashed on the beach for a little bit.

In case you don't understand what is happening here:

Since I stopped at The Lake on the way home from Nebraska, we didn't have a ride home. Luckily, Aiden was planning to stay a couple extra days with Papa and Grandma so there was only 3 of us that needed a ride. And we crammed into the back of a car together. *Note: the ice cream machine at Stubs was broken, how un-American for this to happen on the 4th, and if you ask me all week why I am in a bad mood - this explains it*

When we got home, I went with Randalicious to Crown Hill. I never blogged about it but I made my first trip in May so this was my second visit. For whatever reason, this time was harder. I think it was something my silly dad said when he laid the flowers down between his parents, "You two be good and share now!" It was funny and sweet and sad and I just felt so immensely full of longing for them both. On the way home Randalicious was asking about Erik and how long he was in town and other odds and ends and I just kept tearing up. It's so important to realize what we have while we have it, and to surround ourselves only with what we love passionately, and to appreciate every day and every breath. That night, the three of us went a little towards the edge of Littleton to sit on a Chile's patio and watch the various fireworks shows.

Since Aiden was away for the evening Steve, Erik and I went to see Super 8 after dinner. Well, if you asked them, I dragged them kicking and screaming (because they hated it!) but I loved it! It reminded me a lot of ET  and it was visually spectacular. The music was beautiful too, there were a few moments where I was tearing up a little bit and didn't know whether it was because of the movie or the music. Splendid!

Heading back to work on Tuesday was rough. I was tired and it was busy and I just wanted to go back to bed. Fortunately I picked up speed a bit by the end of the day and was more my chipper self in time for dinner with the family for Grammie's birthday. As per usual, the best thing to eat at Armadillo is dessert, so we had plenty of it. And then Steve and I went off on another adventure.

This time, we wanted to see Bad Teacher but had like an hour to kill before the movie started so we thought we would catch a preview of the new Transformers movie, ya know, just to decide if we wanted it on our Netflix list....We got totally sucked in! It wasn't Oscar worthy by any means, but I doubt Cameron Diaz was either so it all evens out. We were just to lazy to get up and go to the movie that we actually went to the theater to see! Poor Aiden, something tells me he has years of parental embarrassment ahead of him...

Everyone has that one friend...

That no matter the time, space or distance between you, you are always able to pick up right where you left off. Someone who you can tell anything because you know they have your back. Someone who loves you like family.