First of all, let me say I have been very touched and thankful for all the kind wishes that have come in for my Dad’s health after yesterday’s post. It means a lot to me, to my family, and certainly to my Dad, so thank you for all the love and positive thoughts. I will share that I’ve been checking in with him over the weekend, and he remains in great spirits, still has some fever and aches, but is feeling better and enjoying some documentaries and classic TV. So far, so, good! Keep that positive energy coming.
Saturday morning started out with the kind of unexpected curveball one often gets with two little kids. The day before, Erin and Amelia went to Barnes and Noble to pick up some books, and came home with some fun little canisters of play putty. It’s fun stuff…the kids were making bouncy balls and really getting a kick out of it.
Henry fell asleep in our bed Friday night, and it turned out he had his putty gripped in his fist, later mashed into his pajamas and oh yes, all over the sheets and quilt.
So Erin and I spent the first hour or so of our day on putty cleanup detail, which I assure you, is not nearly as easy as it sounds. That stuff is stubborn. Thanks to the wonder of Dawn (a product I believe has nearly magical stain-cleaning ability, and as a chronic spiller, I use it often), we were able to get most of the bright pink goo out.
That was a fun way to start the weekend, but onward from there. I went to do my usual weekly grocery run and that went pretty smoothly. After all that, I got freshened up and we headed over to Grandma and Pop Pop’s to have a belated birthday celebration for Pop-Pop, whose big day was earlier in the week.
It was a fun get together, complete with burgers and cupcakes. Henry, as always, wanted to get right in on the blowing out of candles. Not sure what he’s wishing for, but he is pretty passionate about blowing out those candles.
Grandma had also ordered some new dress up gear for the kids, and they jumped right in on that. Amelia also made liberal use of her new make up set. Their majesties were looking quite regal.
We had a nice time, and then headed home and got the kids to bed, this time putty free. When I had spoken to my Dad earlier in the day, he told me about a National Geographic documentary about Mount St. Helen’s he had watched on Disney Plus. I must say it caught my interest, so I checked it out and it was indeed fascinating. I am old enough to remember it happening, but have never been out there or knew a whole lot about it.
It was well done, and it occurred to me that maybe part of the reason I enjoyed it was because it feels somewhat comforting to watch coverage of a disaster from 40 years ago. I was struck by the fact that while 54 people died, about 130 people were saved. It’s hard to imagine anyone surviving a mountain exploding with the force of 500 Hiroshima bombs, but humans are funny that way. Scary as this time is, I imagine we’ll find a way to muddle through this one, too.
