On Sunday, Erin and I extended our stretch of laziness in the morning, taking advantage of a kid free house to sleep in and just hang out a little. We had a little breakfast and watched the Packers-Lions game on TV. It was a little like Sundays of old, and once again we found it very comforting and fun to be watching the Packers play.
Admittedly, it helps that they are actually playing well and winning football games right now. Maybe it won’t seem like so much fun if they start sucking. Time will tell.
Anyway, after the game I headed over to Grandma and Pop Pop’s to pick up the kids, while Erin got ready to do an outdoor meeting with a few clients to her dog training business. Erin has long been a certified dog trainer, but had kind of backed away from her business for a while to focus on navigating all the therapies and other challenges with Henry. However, some people in the neighborhood reached out, because several are getting puppies, so Erin will be teaching a puppy class for them.
Erin is an excellent dog trainer, and being so close to home, it’s a great opportunity for her use her skills and help out some neighbors. And it involves hanging out with puppies, so who could say no to that?
I got to Grandma and Pop Pop’s and the kids were excited to see me. I could tell they had a super fun time sleeping over…they played at a park, had pizza, roasted marshmallows, and hung out with good friends Nick and Wanda. They regaled me with all their stories of a fun weekend. I stayed and visited for a few minutes, and Henry apparently got a hold of my phone and took about 50 pictures. He’s got a great eye for capturing blurry close up images of sofa cushions.
There were about 20 like that. Also a series of me talking that showed me eventually being overtaken by the light. Possibly something symbolic there? He’s not saying.
It was really great of Rick and Shannon to have them over and give Erin and me a little time to breathe, but it was also great to bring the kids home.
We had a fun evening catching up and hanging out as a family. Asta had also really missed the kids and was super excited to have them home. I had also finally gotten the mail while they were gone, and Amelia got a really sweet birthday card and gift from Auntie Erika!
Like me, Amelia is very much in favor of her birthday stretching out into a weeklong festival.
It was finally time for jammies and bed, and Henry told me to take off my cap. I thought at first this was an insistence on polite decorum in the house, but it wound up being because he wanted to wear it himself. I’d say it’s a good look.
When it was time for bed, Henry crawled in and Erin read the kids some classic Shel Silverstein stories.
It felt good having the kids back home with us. When they were finally asleep, I spent a little time sitting in the backyard with Asta, enjoying the cool evening air. Busy week ahead, so I’ll grab those little moments when I can.
