Happy 4th of July!

Colin Has Fun Driving his Friend's Car

What a gorgeous day and not a cloud in the sky! Summer here reaally DOES start on the 4th of July! We enjoyed an afternoon stroll through downtown Kirkland, where the parade had just ended. There were booths with various vendors -- and we were on the prowl for a really good chocolate chip cookie. At one booth we overheard the lady saying something about an ingredient that would clean out your colon -- next! Then the next booth had wheat-free, all vegetarian, everything else-free ingredients. What's the fun in those cookies? So we settled for a cold drink from our friends at Starbucks.

We then headed over to a BBQ with some friends, and Colin loved the kiddie swimming pool and kiddie toys/cars in their backyard! He was fairly tolerant of one of the toddlers pouring a cup of cold water on his head in the pool. Guess it felt good in all that heat! Our little firecracker enjoyed playing with his friends, but at 7:00 pm on the dot he was like, "Put me to bed NOW!"

So that brings me to our "other"child, Elliot. It's been SOO hot in the house lately (no AC and no trees for shade during the day), so the cat is practically begging me to shave him! Or so I imagine based on his lethargic looks at me all day long. We have been letting him come to bed with us at night, as our room has an AC unit. He happily cuddles up at my feet for 6-8 hours and then BAM...4 am hits and he says, "MEOWWUT! Let me-owut of the room!"

And of course he know who sleeps by the monitor and who is the most likely to meet his cat needs. Yes, our other child, the cat! So after several licks on the face and a few cries in the ear while sitting on the steps by our mammoth bed, I get up to let him out of the room. But he runs back under the bed. Ugh! I walk down stars and get some cat food to jingle in his bowl to manipulate him into thinking I'll feed him. Too bad Colin's Goldfish crackers don't make the same noise in the cat's food dish -- it's dark, and I just wanted something to get his attention. Always a sucker for food, Elliot runs to his dish, and I chase after him to capture him and put him in the utility room for the remainder of the morning.

I come back to bed, after my cat aerobics workout, and I am wide awake. The baby is asleep -- the husband is asleep -- the cat is hungry because I didn't really feed him Colin's goldfish, and now all I can think about is that I forgot to put the salad in a ziploc bag before coming to bed last night.

Tonight the cat sleeps in his room. But I've said that every night for a week.

* We are thankful for our freedom and for celebrating with our friends.