Most of the day yesterday was spent recovering from our trip and trying to catch up on everything after being gone for two days. I made a much needed trip to HEB because, literally, we were out of everything.
In fact, last night as P and I sat in bed watching “The Wonder Years”, P looked at me and said, “I bet Norma Arnold’s family never had to wipe with paper towels.” Which was a slight exaggeration of our situation because P keeps a spare roll of toilet paper stashed in his truck and he shared the dusty Charmin wealth with the family.
Who says chivalry is dead?
Caroline was experiencing Bryan withdrawals and kept asking, “What are we doing today, Mama? Where are we going?” Because apparently, the prospect of a quiet day in a playroom filled with toys is just unbearable. Lucky for her, Mimi had to take one of her dogs to the vet and asked Caroline if she wanted to go along. And really, what says good time like watching rabies vaccinations?
The thing about a trip to Bryan is it’s non-stop fun and entertainment. After being with the family on Sunday night, we headed out Monday morning to visit some of our friends and their kids.
We went to see our friend Tiff, her 3 girls and her new baby boy. Caroline loves Tiff’s house because, not only is there a trampoline in the backyard, but there are VAST amounts of Rubbermaid totes filled to the brim with Barbies. There are Barbies, in various stages of undress, driving Corvettes and riding horses, all over their rooms. It looks like a Spring Break trip to the beach gone bad.
Tiff’s dog even has his very own Barbie that he uses as a chew toy. And when they board him at the kennel, he has to have it.
New from Mattel, it’s Security Barbie.
Lead paint optional.
We usually get to see Tiff and her kids every summer, and every year we take a picture to document that moment in time. Here is this year’s picture.
Obviously, they are all seriously into the whole picture taking thing.
Later in the afternoon, we went to visit our friend Jamie and her kids. Now, Jamie has 3 boys, ages 5 and under, so her house is basically the polar opposite of Tiff’s house. Barbie wouldn’t last a day at Jamie’s house. And from what I saw, she would most likely die from being decapitated by a golf club.
Jamie’s boys came running to the door to greet us with red, sweaty faces and LOTS of enthusiasm. The entire time we were there was a study in constant motion. It is one of the great mysteries of the universe how kids can jump endlessly on a trampoline in the blazing heat and never get tired, yet can’t summon the strength to open their own bag of fruit snacks.
Here’s a picture of all the kids after we managed to deplete them of enough energy to get them to stand still.
Last night, I was showing this picture to P so he could see how big the boys have gotten, and Caroline walked by the computer. She said, “Hey! Those are my friends!” And I said, “I know! Didn’t you have so much fun with those boys?”
She said, “Yes, but you’ve got to watch that little one. He bites.”
Like I said, Barbie wouldn’t last a day.
